Misuse of reservation can’t go unpunished: HC

CHENNAI: Dismissing the petition by a retired government employee who submitted fake caste certificate to obtain a government job more than four decades ago, the Madras High Court said those who exploit reservation policy by providing fake certificates cannot go unpunished. The bench then upheld the authorities’ decision to stop the retirement benefits to the man.

Balasundaram of Avinasi in Coimbatore district joined the Coimbatore Institute of Forest Genetics in 1982 as a peon by producing a Scheduled Tribe certificate. When he was promoted as Junior Clerk in 1999, his caste certificate was sent to the State Level Scrutiny Committee for examination. However, by the time the panel found malpractice and cancelled his community certificate, it was 2022 – Balasundaram had retired in 2020.

After the panel found that his brother and sister belonged to a different community and not a tribe as claimed in his certificate, the authorities stopped his retirement benefits.

Following this, Balasundaram approached the Madras High Court claiming that it was not legal to review and cancel his caste certificate that was issued 40 years ago. When the case came before the bench comprising Justice VM Velumani and Justice R Hemalatha, the court upheld the order cancelling Balasundaram’s ST certificate.

Dismissing the petition, the bench said reservation policy was something to be proud of in a diverse country like India and added that those who abuse the reservation policy for government jobs should not go unpunished. The judges said the delay in detecting the fake caste certificate would not justify the abuse of the policy, the bench noted.