'Caste Certificate Seems To Be Big Problem In Tamil Nadu; There Appears To Be A Huge Racket' : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently made a prima facie observation regarding the existence of a "huge racket" in the State of Tamil Nadu which was behind issuing bogus caste certificates.

The Court made this observation while dealing with a batch of cases concerning the certificates issued to thousands of persons certifying them to be belonging to the Hindu Konda Reddis Community in Tamil Nadu.

"Caste Certificate seems to be a big big problem in the State of Tamil Nadu. It appears that thousands of such certificates have been issued certifying people to be members of the Hindu Konda Reddis Community falling within the Scheduled Tribe," the Court observed.

"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 Court added.

A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan was hearing a batch of petitions in which the certificates were issued certifying several persons as members of the Hindu Konda Reddis Community, designated as a Scheduled Tribe.

The Supreme Court ordered a State Level Scrutiny Committee to inquire into the genuineness of the certificates and submit its report in order for the Court to decide these matters.

In one of the cases, the Respondent claimed that she belonged to the Reddis Community and therefore, sought a caste certificate for her son. However, it was declined after an inquiry was undertaken by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO).

The Madras High Court while allowing the Respondent's plea for the issuance of community certificate to her son, directed that a State Level Scrutiny Committee shall whether the family belongs to the Reddis Community or not. Against this order, the State filed an SLP and was granted a stay as an interim order last year.

Last week, the Court modified its interim order to ensure that the claims of genuineness of the certificates could be verified. It has directed the State Level Scrutiny Committee to file a report within 6 weeks into the claims of the genuineness of the caste certificates issued in these matters. Once the report is submitted, the Court will look into each petition independently and decide it on merits.

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 said.

The Court has further noted that the Committee must undertake a fair, transparent and impartial inquiry.

Case Details: THE SUB COLLECTOR/ REVENUE DIVISIONAL OFFICER v.B PRADEEPA|Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 27890/2019

Click here to read the order