Supreme Court orders government to outline caste verification procedure for 2027 Census

During a hearing on a public interest litigation filed by activist Aakash Goel, the Supreme Court sought clarification from the Centre on how the 2027 Census will authenticate caste declarations. Chief Justice Surya Kant stressed the need for a clear SOP to differentiate genuine from fake OBC, SC and ST claims, warning that fraudulent certificates could deprive rightful groups of reservation benefits. The bench, comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta to provide a detailed note on the verification steps, including whether a certificate must be produced and how its authenticity will be checked.

Senior advocate Mukta Gupta highlighted that a prior notification under the Census Act, 1948 did not specify any verification mechanism, and a Right to Information request had yielded no details. The petition argues that inaccurate enumeration could distort community statistics, affecting policy priorities and the distribution of limited public resources. The court scheduled a follow-up hearing after two weeks.