Pankaj Tripathi’s movie Kaagaz comes to life; 79-year-old from Chattisgarh declared dead on papers due to family conflict
Shikha Chaurasia
Pune, January 30, 2021: Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi’s recently released film ‘Kaagaz’ is very similar to the story of Kalicharan Vipata from Chattisgarh’s Koriya district. He too was declared dead on government papers in 1958, but he is still alive and pleading for justice. Kalicharan Vipata, a resident of Budhar village under Patna police station in Koriya district can hardly walk, but he is travelling through all the revenue offices of his tehsil for justice.
Kalicharan is 79 years old. He said, “This is the saddest thing I’ve seen in this age. I appeal to the Chhattisgarh government to give me life again.” In his application to the Collector and other senior officials of the district, Yadav, Kalicharan’s grandson, alleged that the death certificate has been issued by the secretary of the Gram Panchayat in October 2020 without any investigation.
Kalicharan’s grandson Lakshman Yadav says, “My grandfather had given an application for the ‘Farz bantwara’ (division of family land) in the Tehsil office about six months ago. My grandfather had two brothers, Kalicharan and Ramcharan. About five years ago, Ramcharan died and when the application reached the Tehsil office in January 2021, Ramcharan’s son lodged an objection and presented a death certificate.”
Kalicharan Vipata in his letter to the Collector said, “I have been declared ‘dead’ by my elder brother Ramcharan’s son Shyamlal. I demand action against all concerned Panchayat Officers for issuing this death certificate. Shyamlal wants to illegally encroach my land and hence he managed to get the death certificate.”
Kalicharan’s lawyer Arvind Kushwaha said that he has submitted an application to the tehsil office that the person who has issued Kalicharan’s death certificate should be summoned along with all relevant documents. The lawyer said, “The death certificate was issued by the Panchayat Secretary. The certificate issued is fake and we hope that the court will take appropriate action against the authorities concerned.”
Collector of Koriya SN Rathore told Hindustan Times that the matter is going on in Tehsil court and action will be taken after investigation.
The collector said, “We have received the complaint of Kalicharan and action will be taken according to the investigation that is going on.”
