Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Monday expressed disagreement with Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's statement that Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an "old icon".

Mumbai Nov 20 PTI Amid a controversy surrounding the religion of Sameer Wankhede Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi VBA leader Prakash Ambedkar on Saturday said the law is on the side of the Mumbai NCB chief whom Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik had accused of hiding his true religion- Islam and securing a Central job by faking his caste certificate Malik had alleged that Sameer Wankhede an IRS officer was born as Muslim but he forged his caste certificate to get a job under a reserved category Wankhede the Mumbai zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau NCB had denied the allegations As per my information the law is on the side of Sameer Wankhede There is a similar case where the Supreme Court had ruled in the favour of a man from Kerala who wanted to disassociate himself from his parents religion Christianity There is a Supreme Court verdict on February 25 2015 where the case is similar to that of Sameer Wankhedes The petitioners parents had accepted Christianity before his birth But after he became an adult he filed a petition saying he wanted to be associated with the religion of his grandparents who are non-Christians he said The Supreme Court had upheld his appeal and ruled that since the petitioner is an adult now he can associate himself with his grandparents religion Ambedkar said I think legally Wankhede is clean and the law is on his side he said Speaking on Prime Minister Narendra Modis announcement to repeal the three contentious farm laws Ambedkar said a case is pending before the Supreme Court wherein petitioners have argued that agriculture is a state subject PTI ND NSK NSK