Refusing to issue caste certificate without Aadhar card is unlawful

Central Information Commission (CIC):CIC has held that refusing to issue Caste Certificate on the ground of not having Aadhar card is unlawful and against the orders of the Supreme Court. The order came upon an appeal filed by a man who applied for caste certificate in 2012 when Aadhar card was not an essential requirement to obtain it but was denied the same by the concerned Department. It was alleged that Department failed to make any public announcement about the requirement of Aadhar card for issuing the caste certificate which should have been done in accordance with the proactive disclosure clause of the RTI Act. The Department submitted that due to the major change in the requirement for caste certificate, the application was rejected by the computer itself as the new software does not accept the applications without aadhar card number. While noting that it was a serious policy issue which was affecting the people and creating the difficulties in getting the caste certificate, CIC held that mechanical rejection of application, noncompliance of Section 4(1)(c) and (d) of RTI Act, imposing new conditions without prior information to the people are violations of RTI Act which would attract the penalty proceedings. While referring to the decision of Supreme Court, CIC observed that whether a person is eligible to get Aadhar card or not, he would certainly be eligible to get certification of caste and the PIO cannot take the excuse of absence of Aadhar card to deny the rights of the people. The Commission directed the respondents to declare reasons for the new policy/administrative decision on its website and also to inform the applicant about fate of his application for caste certificate as asked under RTI. Indra Singh v. Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Patel Nagar, Delhi, 2014 SCC OnLine CIC 5982, decided on December 8, 2014)