The Supreme Court on 3 March 2025 made a prima facie observation regarding the existence of a large-scale racket in Tamil Nadu involved in the issuance of fraudulent caste certificates. A bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan raised concerns over thousands of such certificates being issued to individuals falsely claiming to belong to the Hindu Konda Reddis community, which is designated as a Scheduled Tribe in the state.
The court, while hearing multiple petitions on the matter, noted that the issue of fake caste certificates in Tamil Nadu appeared to be a “big problem” and required thorough investigation. “For the present, we do not level any allegations, but prima facie it appears to be a huge racket. This is something extremely dangerous,” the bench observed.
To address the matter, the Supreme Court directed a State Level Scrutiny Committee to verify the authenticity of the caste certificates in question and submit a report within six weeks. The bench emphasized the need for a fair, transparent, and impartial inquiry to determine the genuineness of these certificates and understand the extent of the issue.
The case before the court arose from a petition filed by a woman who had applied for a caste certificate for her son, claiming they belonged to the Hindu Konda Reddis community. However, an inquiry conducted by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) led to the rejection of her request. Subsequently, the woman approached the Madras High Court, which ruled in her favor and ordered the issuance of the certificate, subject to verification by the State Level Scrutiny Committee.
The Tamil Nadu government challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court, which initially granted an interim stay on the order. However, last week, the apex court modified its previous ruling to ensure proper verification of the caste certificates before any final determination.
The bench stated that the court would examine each case independently once the scrutiny report was submitted. “We would like to ensure whether these certificates are genuine or not. We would also like to know in what manner such caste certificates have been procured by thousands of people in the area,” the court remarked.
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