Uttarakhand HC orders probe into freedom-fighter quota certificates and officials’ role amid claim that 16 of 24 NEET claimants had fake certificates

The petitioner filed a public-interest petition seeking, among other reliefs, verification of certificates used to claim reservation or other public benefits, including those of candidates identified in the NEET-UG Counselling 2026 rounds, and a CBI investigation into alleged certificate fraud.

It alleged that, of 24 candidates claiming reservation as dependants of freedom fighters, certificates belonging to 16 were found to be fake, although the candidates had participated in the first and second counselling rounds.

The State informed the Court that a six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by a Superintendent of Police, had been constituted and was investigating the matter.

Whether the State should be directed to verify certificates and take consequential action against persons who wrongly secured admission or appointment against seats or posts reserved for dependants of freedom fighters.

Whether a permanent mechanism should be considered for deciding doubts about eligibility for reservation and for conducting random certificate checks.

Whether the investigation should be entrusted to the CBI under the supervision of the Court, as sought by the petitioner.

The Court referred to the Uttarakhand Public Services (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 1994 and the Uttarakhand Public Services (Reservation for Physically Handicapped, Dependents of Freedom Fighters and Ex-Servicemen) Act, 1993 as the statutory framework governing reservation eligibility.

It did not cite judicial precedents or set out a distinct legal test for certificate verification or transfer of an investigation.

In light of the allegations concerning allegedly fake freedom-fighter-dependant certificates and the State’s confirmation that a SIT investigation was underway, the Court considered further administrative verification necessary.

The Court directed the Home and Revenue Secretaries to constitute a committee to verify certificates of persons admitted or appointed against the relevant reserved seats or posts and to examine the role of the officials and service-centre operators involved in issuing fake certificates.

The Court did not grant the request for a CBI investigation; instead, it left the investigation with the State’s SIT and directed the State to take appropriate legal action following the committee’s report.

It also considered a permanent committee potentially useful for resolving eligibility doubts and detecting wrongful claims, but framed this as a request for the State’s consideration.

The State was directed to take appropriate legal action against persons found to have wrongly secured admission or appointment against the relevant reserved seats or posts.

The Court also requested the State to consider constituting a permanent committee for reservation-eligibility questions and random certificate checks.