A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya passed the order while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition which claimed that issuance of fake caste certificates to people from general category was rampant in the State.
“A very serious issue of fraudulent caste certificates being issued to people across various districts in the State of West Bengal has been highlighted in the instant petition. People from general category are shown to be from Scheduled Caste (SC) category,” the Court observed.
It further noted that in Paschim Bardhaman district at least 17 certificates were fraudulently obtained. However, out of these 17, the District Magistrate cancelled only 2 of them in May this year.
“This is only a tip of the iceberg. We are of the opinion that the State has to be proactive and a vigilance mechanism has to be put in place. State cannot shirk it’s responsibility,” the bench remarked.
It, therefore, directed the Secretary of Backward Class Welfare Department to issue a circular to all District Magistrates to undetake verification of the caste certificates issued in the recent past and also to devise a standard operating procedure (SOP) for proper investigation of the genuineness of the certificates.
“Further, the District Magistrates must issue a circular warning Divisional Officers, if any fake certificates are found to be issued at their instance they would be held personally liable and action including criminal action will be initiated,” the Court made it clear.
Source: Barandbench
