Mumbai: In a major crackdown on a flourishing racket of forged birth and death certificates, Maharashtra Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule on Thursday ordered the immediate cancellation of all certificates issued solely on the basis of Aadhaar cards or found to be suspicious, and directed officials to file criminal cases without delay.
Calling the manipulation of records an organised fraud threatening the integrity of government documentation, Bawankule has instructed the administration to act swiftly and decisively across the state. A departmental circular issued by the Revenue Department has directed Tehsildars, SDOs, District Collectors and Divisional Commissioners to scrutinise all certificates on 16 parameters and initiate police action wherever discrepancies emerge.
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The Minister’s office stated that orders granting certificates issued by Naib Tehsildars after the August 11, 2023 amendment, based only on Aadhaar, will be declared invalid. The government has reiterated that Aadhaar cannot be accepted as proof of birth or place of birth, as per Central Government guidelines.
Under the new directives, if mismatches are found between application details and Aadhaar-linked date of birth, FIRs will be filed, and beneficiaries failing to return forged certificates will be declared “absconders.”
The Revenue Department has identified several hotspots of illegal documentation fraud, including Amravati, Sillod, Akola, Sambhajinagar city, Latur, Anjanagaon Surji, Achalpur, Pusad, Parbhani, Beed, Gevrai, Jalna, Ardhapur, and Parli. Special teams and investigation drives will be launched immediately under the supervision of District Collectors and Divisional Commissioners.
Bawankule emphasised the seriousness of the issue, noting that while birth–death certificates are ordinarily issued by the Health Department, after one year the authority shifts to Revenue officials — a process now riddled with irregularities and forged documents.
“Fake certificate beneficiaries will not be spared. Forgery of government records is a crime, and strong punitive action is now mandatory,” he declared.
