The Supreme Court has preliminary noted the presence of a large-scale racket in Tamil Nadu involved in the issuance of fraudulent caste certificates.

The Court made this observation while hearing a series of cases related to the issuance of certificates to thousands of individuals, falsely certifying them as members of 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 comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan was hearing a series of petitions challenging the issuance of certificates that recognized several individuals as members of the Hindu Konda Reddis community, a designated Scheduled Tribe.  

The Supreme Court directed the State Level Scrutiny Committee to investigate the authenticity of these certificates and submit a report to assist the Court in adjudicating the matter.

In one of the cases, the respondent asserted her belonging to the Reddis community and applied for a caste certificate for her son. However, following an inquiry conducted by the Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO), the request was denied.

The Madras High Court, while granting the respondent's plea for the issuance of a community certificate to her son, directed the State Level Scrutiny Committee to determine whether the family belonged to the Reddis community. Challenging this order, the State filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP), and the Supreme Court granted an interim stay last year.

Last week, the Court modified its interim order to facilitate the verification of the authenticity of the caste certificates. It directed the State Level Scrutiny Committee to submit a report within six weeks on the genuineness of the certificates issued in these cases. Once the report is filed, the Court will examine each petition individually and decide them on their 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 further emphasized that the Committee must conduct a fair, transparent, and impartial inquiry.