CHENNAI: Holding that an appointment in government service obtained based on a fake community certificate becomes nullity in law, the Madras HC has ruled the inquiry into such certificate and caste status of government employees can be continued even after their retirement. The benefits accrued through such employment shall not be left unrecovered.
The significant judgment having far reaching ramifications was pronounced by a full bench comprising Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari, justices K Kumaresh Babu and G Arul Murugan on Thursday on the vital question of whether government employees, who had got the job through fake community certificates, shall be left untouched after their retirement.
The full bench was constituted after a division bench made a reference in this regard on October 28, 2025.
The bench ruled, “Verification into the genuineness of a community certificate or caste status of an employee remains legally permissible even after their retirement from service. Since an appointment obtained by fraud is ab initio void, retirement does not wash away the foundational illegality, and retiral benefits flowing from a void entry cannot be protected.”
It said the employers and scrutiny committees are fully empowered to verify the genuineness of a community certificate or caste status, irrespective of whether the certificate was issued or the employment was granted prior to the year 1995. Fraud has no expiry date.
“A lawful verification process into an employee’s caste status initiated prior to retirement does not lapse upon superannuation and must be permitted to continue to its logical conclusion,” the bench said in the order.
It cited the SC’s ruling in cases of Kumari Madhuri Patil, Dayaram and Food Corporation of India on the issue of obtaining employment through fake caste certificates.
The bench directed the state to immediately strengthen the state level scrutiny committees and district level vigilance committees with adequate manpower and anthropological experts to ensure multi-point verification matrix. All public employers are directed to complete the verification of community certificates within the initial years of an employee’s service rather than waiting until the fag end of their career.
