Maharashtra to cancel birth certificates issued on basis of Aadhaar; govt issues 16-point guidelines

The Maharashtra government has ordered the cancellation of all delayed birth certificates issued solely on the basis of Aadhaar after the August 2023 amendment to the Births and Deaths Registration Act, warning of strict action against officials who cleared such applications in violation of rules.

The decision, announced by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, follows the detection of a large number of allegedly fake birth and death certificates across several districts that officials say were being used for “illegal purposes”, including fraudulent identity creation and manipulation of birth records.

In a circular issued on November 27, the Revenue and Forest Department said Aadhaar will no longer be considered a valid document for processing delayed birth or death registrations in the state.

A 16-point verification protocol has been sent to tehsildars, sub-divisional officers, district collectors and divisional commissioners to guide a state-wide review, cancellation, and re-verification drive.

According to the circular, all orders issued by Naib Tehsildars after the August 11, 2023, amendment empowering revenue authorities to approve delayed registrations must be withdrawn and re-verified at the district collector level.

“Many tehsildar offices have issued birth certificates on the basis of only Aadhaar card, without any proof of school records or date/place of birth. These orders are erroneous and must be reconsidered,” the government said.

The circular emphasised that Aadhaar “is not acceptable as evidence for any subject/case” in delayed registration matters.

The government flagged a concentration of suspicious or irregular registrations in at least 14 locations, including Amravati, Sillod, Akola, Sambhajinagar city, Latur, Anjangaon Surji, Achalpur, Pusad, Parbhani, Beed, Gevrai, Jalna, Ardhapur and Parli.

Tehsildars and local police stations in these regions have been instructed to conduct “serious investigations” and file police complaints wherever discrepancies are detected, including mismatches between Aadhaar details and birth certificates.

The government has directed tehsildars and executive magistrates to prepare lists of applicants whose certificates show mismatched dates of birth or who submitted only Aadhaar as primary proof. These lists must be handed over to police, and FIRs lodged for offences including fraud and forgery.

In tehsils where no police complaints have yet been filed despite discrepancies, tehsildars will be held responsible for initiating criminal action, the circular said.

Local self-government bodies have been ordered to retrieve original certificates issued under cancelled orders. If beneficiaries fail to return certificates or cannot be traced, municipalities must coordinate with police to file complaints, and such individuals may be declared absconders.

Invalid certificates must be cancelled immediately, and corresponding entries erased from the central Civil Registration System (CRS) portal.

Municipal corporations and councils have also been instructed to reconcile all delayed birth records approved after tehsildar orders, as discrepancies and “fake orders” have been detected in several jurisdictions.

The directive mandates divisional commissioners to convene one-day coordination meetings with district collectors, tehsildars, municipal bodies, Zilla Parishad officials and police units to expedite the re-verification and withdrawal process.

The Public Health Department will run a special campaign to complete the entire exercise within a prescribed time frame under its earlier government decisions dated March 16, May 29 and September 16, 2025.

District collectors have also been asked to compile and submit detailed returns on pending, approved, distributed and withdrawn certificates under the amended law.