‘Prima facie a huge racket’: SC orders probe into caste certificates issuance in Tamil Nadu
A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan raised serious concerns regarding the large number of caste Scheduled Tribes certificates issued under the Hindu Konda Reddis community.
Published Mar 03, 2025 | 6:10 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 03, 2025 | 6:10 PM
Synopsis: The Supreme Court has directed Tamil Nadu to conduct a thorough investigation into the large-scale issuance of Scheduled Tribes caste certificates under the Hindu Konda Reddis community, expressing concerns that it may be part of a fraudulent racket.
The Supreme Court has directed the Tamil Nadu State Level Scrutiny Committee (SLSC) to conduct an extensive investigation into the issuance of Scheduled Tribes (ST) caste certificates. The court has mandated that the committee submit a detailed report within six weeks.
During the hearing on 25 February, a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice R Mahadevan raised serious concerns regarding the large number of caste certificates issued under the Hindu Konda Reddis community.
The court stated that “caste certificates seem to be a big, big problem in the state of Tamil Nadu”, and noted that “thousands of such certificates have been issued certifying people to be members of the Hindu Konda Reddis community falling within the Scheduled Tribe category”.
Observing that “this is something extremely dangerous”, the court suggested that the case “prima facie appears to be a huge racket”, but clarified that it was not levelling any allegations at this stage.
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Case origins and proceedings
The order follows a Special Leave petition filed by Tamil Nadu challenging a Madras High Court judgment from 22 April 2019.
The High Court had directed the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) of Mettur Dam in Salem district to issue a caste certificate to the son of the respondent, B Pradeepa, on the basis that similar certificates had already been issued to her close relatives.
Simultaneously, the High Court had ordered the verification of all such certificates by the SLSC. The Tamil Nadu government sought a stay on the High Court’s order, leading to the present Supreme Court proceedings.
The court issued the following directives:
- The SLSC must conduct an exhaustive and transparent inquiry into the issuance of caste certificates under the Hindu Konda Reddis community. The committee’s report should be “exhaustive supported by some contemporaneous record and it should be in correct english”
- All individuals claiming Scheduled Tribe (ST) status under the Hindu Konda Reddis community must be given an opportunity to present their case
- Once the report is submitted, the Supreme Court will review each petition separately before making a final decision
High Court directive on hold
The Supreme Court has put the Madras High Court order for the issuance of a caste certificate to B Pradeepa’s son on hold.
It noted that paragraph 7 of the Madras High Court’s order contained two parts – one directing the issuance of a caste certificate and another ordering an investigation by the SLSC. The Supreme Court modified this order, stating:
“We are conscious of the fact that the state has been able to obtain an interim order by which the operation of the impugned judgment has been stayed. However, we modify the order to the extent that let the State Level Scrutiny Committee undertake an extensive inquiry into this issue at the earliest and file its report before us to enable us to proceed further in the matter.”
The bench further directed that the SLSC “exercise must be completed at the earliest” and that the “report must be filed within six weeks without fail”.
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Concerns over fraudulent caste certificates
The Supreme Court highlighted the potential ramifications of the case, stating that it would like to determine “whether these certificates are genuine or not” and “in what manner such caste certificates have been procured by thousands of people in the area”.
The SLSC has been instructed to ensure that the inquiry is “fair, transparent, and impartial”, and that it is “not influenced in any manner by any of the observations made in the impugned order or by any other extraneous consideration, including any observation made by this court on merits in the present order”.
If the SLSC findings confirm irregularities, the cancellation of numerous caste certificates could follow, affecting individuals’ eligibility for reservation benefits in education, government jobs, and welfare schemes.
(Edited by Dese Gowda with inputs from Subash Chandra Bose)