The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to constitute a sufficient number of State Level Scrutiny Committees to effectively handle the growing number of pending enquiries related to bogus community certificates. The court emphasized that such certificates must only be issued after thorough verification and proper enquiry as per prescribed procedures.
The issue came before the court in a case filed by the Bank of Baroda, which raised concerns regarding the delay in scrutiny of community certificates submitted by several employees. These certificates were allegedly used to secure public employment under the reservation quota and were later found to be bogus. The Bank stated that the delay in verification was affecting their ability to process retirement benefits for some of these employees.
The bench, comprising Justice SM Subramaniam and Justice K Rajasekar, highlighted the seriousness of the matter, stating that "several persons who secured public employment through bogus community certificates are not cooperating with the Committee for enquiry, which leads to delay in taking a final decision."
The respondents are directed to ensure that required number of State Level Scrutiny Committees are constituted for effective disposal of the enquiries pending before the Committee and further ensure that the community certificates are issued after complete scrutiny and by way of conducting appropriate enquiry as per the procedures contemplated, the court ordered.
The court took note of the delay caused by non-cooperation from individuals under investigation and warned that such non-compliance should not obstruct the process. It clarified that scrutiny committees or competent authorities are empowered to record such behavior and continue proceedings without unnecessary delay.
“The guidelines are to be scrupulously followed by the subordinate authorities and in the event of failure, they must be subjected to disciplinary actions for their lapses, dereliction of duty and negligence,” the court stated firmly.
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In this context, the court also directed the State government to evaluate the existing workload of the scrutiny committees and take appropriate steps to set up more committees to clear the backlog. It held the issuing authorities accountable for bogus certificates and stated that the State should monitor the process carefully to avoid misuse.
The court further noted the importance of ensuring a time-bound disposal mechanism and encouraged the government to fix deadlines for the scrutiny of applications. It added that officers responsible for issuing fraudulent certificates must be held accountable for their role.
To strengthen the process, the court suo motu impleaded the Secretary to the Government, Adi Dravidar & Tribal Welfare Department, and ordered that necessary actions be taken and relevant orders be passed within six weeks.
“It is needless to state that in the event of non-cooperation by any of the party, the State Level Scrutiny Committee or the competent Authority is empowered to record such non-cooperation and proceed with the matter without any further delay. Importantly, reasons and the non-cooperation must be specified in the order itself,” the court added.
The directions aim to bring transparency and efficiency in the verification of community certificates, thereby preventing misuse of reservation benefits and ensuring that only eligible individuals are allowed access to public employment opportunities.
Case Title: Bank of Baroda v. The Chairman and Others
Case No: W.P.No.15195 of 2025
Counsel for Petitioner: Mrs. Revathi Manivannan
Counsel for Respondents: Mr. P. Kumaresan, Additional Advocate General, assisted by Mr. Vadivelu Deenadayalan, Additional Government Pleader for R1 to R5
