New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to clarify the mechanism for verifying caste claims during Census 2027, stressing that safeguards are necessary to prevent fraudulent claims from depriving genuine beneficiaries of their legitimate rights.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to obtain instructions from the Centre and submit a note detailing the standard operating procedure (SOP) for verifying caste particulars.
“If any person claims to be OBC or SC, we need to know what is the standard operating procedure (SOP) to verify if it is fake or genuine,” the bench observed.
The court further noted that false claims could undermine the rights of genuine beneficiaries, particularly in view of the possibility of forged caste certificates.
The matter came up during the hearing of a public interest litigation filed by Delhi-based social activist Aakash Goel, who sought safeguards for recording and verifying caste details during the upcoming census.
The petitioner argued that since Census 2027 permits the recording of caste particulars, appropriate mechanisms should be established to verify the information against relevant documents.
Senior advocate Mukta Gupta, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the plea sought safeguards governing the collection and verification of caste data. She informed the court that the petitioner had previously approached the Supreme Court in February 2026, following which his plea was permitted to be submitted as a representation to the Centre.
Subsequently, a notification was issued on August 14 under Section 8(1) of the Census Act, 1948, authorising the collection of information concerning Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. However, the petitioner contended that the notification did not specify the details of government-issued caste certificates or establish a mechanism to verify their authenticity.
The petitioner also said that an application filed under the Right to Information Act seeking details of the verification process had yielded no information.
The plea maintained that inaccurate caste enumeration could distort assessments of communities’ numerical strength and socio-economic conditions, potentially affecting policy priorities, welfare measures and the allocation of public resources.
The bench did not issue notice on the petition and directed the Centre to clarify the verification procedure. The matter will be heard after two weeks.
