Calcutta High Court Stays Blanket Reverification of Caste Certificates, Questions SIR Deletion as a Basis

MP, August 18, 2026, Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stayed the West Bengal government's proposed blanket reverification of caste certificates issued since 2011, while questioning whether deletion of a person's name from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) could be a statutory basis for such scrutiny.

A Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Tapabrata Chakraborty and Justice Atarup Banerjee passed the interim order while hearing a PIL filed by the CPI(M) challenging the state's May 14 notification on verification of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC certificates.

During the hearing, Advocate General Surajit Nath Mitra clarified that deletion of a person's name from the electoral rolls during SIR would not automatically lead to cancellation of their caste certificate.

"It is not absolute that if someone is deleted in SIR, his certificate would be taken away on that basis," the AG submitted.

The court, however, questioned the statutory basis for initiating reverification merely because an individual's name had been deleted during the electoral roll revision.

"But this is not a ground for reverification in terms of the statute," the bench observed.

The court directed that no verification of SC, ST and OBC certificates be undertaken until the PIL is finally disposed of or further orders are passed.

It, however, allowed authorities to examine individual certificates if specific complaints of irregularities are received.

The petitioners argued that the blanket exercise could affect around 1.69 crore certificate holders and create difficulties for those relying on caste certificates in proceedings before SIR tribunals.

They contended that the state lacked authority to undertake such an exercise without specific allegations or evidence of fraud.

The petitioners also alleged that the notification violated constitutional safeguards under Articles 14, 15(4), 16(4) and 21.

The state had issued the notification on May 14 providing for verification of caste certificates issued since 2011 and cancellation of those found to be fake.