Fake Birth-and-Death Certificate Racket: A seemingly routine public-health record fraud case in the Kharibari block of Darjeeling district has expanded into a major governance and electoral integrity issue, as Shankar Ghosh, the BJP MLA from Siliguri and party whip, has filed a formal RTI seeking detailed data on all birth and death certificates issued by hospitals and panchayat systems in the region since July 2025. His move follows the arrest of two alleged certificate-fraudsters and spotlights the deep-seated challenge of certificate integrity in health and civic systems at the grassroots level in West Bengal.
The alleged racket involved issuing hundreds of fake certificates — reportedly with cash payments of around ₹10,000 per certificate — from a state-run rural hospital in Kharibari, raising questions not just of criminal misuse of records but also of implications for voter-registration, migration oversight and citizenship documentation in the lead-up to the upcoming voter-roll revision exercise.
Fake Birth-and-Death Certificate RacketUnfolding of the Case
On 17 October 2025, the Block Medical Officer of Health (BMOH) of Kharibari rural hospital lodged a formal written complaint with the local police station, alleging that a group of individuals had for months been issuing fake birth and death certificates from within the hospital premises.
The complaint noted that some of the certificates were being back-dated, carried false entries, and were used by applicants residing not only in the local block but from neighbouring states. Two individuals were soon arrested: one, Nabhajit Guha (also spelt Niyogi) of the local Bangla Sahayata Kendra, and the other, Partha Saha, a data-entry operator who allegedly fled to Nepal but was later apprehended while attempting to exit via Bihar. (MillenniumPost)
The police sources suggest that the number of certificates issued — over 450 suspected fake certificates — far exceeds typical rates of official births and deaths in the block within the recent months. Some of the fake certificates may have been used to procure voter identity cards, Aadhaar updates or other official documents, thus potentially impacting electoral roll integrity. (MillenniumPost)
MLA Shankar Ghosh commented:
“I have filed an RTI requesting all data on certificates issued in Kharibari block from July this year onwards. The rate is far higher than usual, which suggests systematic fraud rather than isolated incidents.”
Why This Matters: Governance, Elections & Citizenship
Health & Civic Record Integrity
Birth and death certificates are fundamental documents used across administrative, electoral, social-welfare and identity systems. When such documents are issued fraudulently, they corrupt the foundational databases and may facilitate illegal migration, false identity claims, duplicate voter entries or unreported deaths.
Electoral Implications
With the state preparing for the major voter-roll revision exercise under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) ahead of the 2026 Assembly polls, the timing of this certificate fraud case is politically significant. Certificates issued improperly may feed into bogus entries or ghost voters, raising fears of manipulation. The MLA’s RTI underscores these concerns:
“Fake birth certificates could legitimise infiltrators in the region,” he warned.
This is especially sensitive in border-districts like Darjeeling, where migration, identity and citizenship issues have been politically and socially volatile.
Health System Oversight
The fraud also reflects deeper governance weaknesses in public health delivery and record-keeping. The fact that a rural hospital’s birth-&-death certificate system was allegedly abused suggests gaps in supervision, digital record-keeping, audit trails and inter-departmental coordination (health, panchayat, data-entry, identity issuance).
Administrative Responsibility & Oversight
The RTI application by the MLA is directed not only at health-department certificate records but also panchayat-level issuance systems — implying that civic bodies, local governments and hospital administration all might be implicated. The scale of alleged fraud (hundreds of certificates) suggests not just localised wrongdoing but systemic vulnerability.
Local Context: Kharibari Block & Darjeeling District
Kharibari block lies in the Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district. The region contains a mix of rural habitations, tea-garden workers, migratory populations and is proximate to border zones with Nepal and Bangladesh. Social-welfare, public-health delivery, identity systems and electoral administration are complex in such settings.
Residents of Kharibari and nearby gram panchayats told reporters they were unaware of any unusual certificate volumes but did notice “agents” offering quick certificate issuance in exchange for cash. One local resident said:
“We heard of someone offering ‘certificate in a day’ for ₹10,000. Many villagers suspected but feared to report.”
Such local perceptions underscore how informal networks may exploit weaknesses in record-issuance systems, especially in semi-urban and rural nodes where oversight may be weaker.
Legal & Institutional Dimensions
RTI Filing by MLA
Under the Right to Information Act, 2005, the MLA has sought from the relevant departments: names of certificate recipients, addresses, panchayat areas, hospital/health-unit involved, certificate numbers and dates, and the volume of certificates issued since July 2025. This move aims to map irregular certificate issuance and detect anomalies.
Police Investigation
The local police have registered a complaint (FIR) based on the BMOH’s submission of October 17, arrested two suspects and initiated tracing of network links. They are investigating whether the fraudulent certificates were used for voter-ID applications, migration records or other identity purpose.
Health & Panchayat Department Response
The hospital administration reportedly suspended data-entry staff, initiated internal audit, and forwarded records to police. The district health deputy director has confirmed that a verification of certificate issuance logs is underway. At the panchayat level, the local gram-panchayat offices are being audited for certificate submission protocols (birth/death) and cross-linkages with district registries.
Electoral Commission Implication
While the case is at the health/identity end, the electoral commission will have interest because of the upcoming roll-revision exercise. Fake certificates can feed into erroneous electoral registers. A senior official within the CEO’s office said (off the record) that they were monitoring certificate‐issuance data and district-wise anomalies ahead of the SIR.
Scale & Patterns of the Racket
According to a report by Millennium Post, one of the arrests states that around 450 fake certificates may have been issued, many with back-dated entries, and charged at ₹10,000 each.
While the exact number remains to be confirmed via the health department’s records, the MLA’s RTI suggests that the certificate-volume in Kharibari from July onwards is “much higher than usual”. The vertical spike of certificate issuance in a short period raises red-flags for audit and verification.
Some aspects of the pattern:
- Certificates were allegedly issued even to applicants from other states (which if true, shows cross-border misuse).
- Data-entry operators reportedly manipulated the hospital’s digital or manual registry to create entries.
- Middle-men (‘agents’) possibly advertised quick certificate issuance in exchange for cash, indicating organised network.
- Certificates used may serve a variety of purposes: school admissions, migration, identity proof, voter-registration, social-scheme access.
Implications for Voter Rolls, Citizenship & Migration
Voter Roll Integrity
Given the SIR is expected soon, the inflated issuance of certificates may allow for ghost entries or fraudulent voter registration. Certificates are often used to prove legal identity or residence — if bogus certificates are in circulation, the risk of bogus voters or phantom entries increases.
Citizenship & Identity Issues
Fake death certificates can obscure actual deaths (so deceased persons appear alive in registers), while fake birth certificates can create manufactured identities. In border zones such as Darjeeling, where migration/movement is monitored, these distortions have serious national-security and electoral implications.
Migration and Inter-State Flows
Reports suggest applicants from neighbouring states used the fake certificates — an allegation that amplifies the cross-state migration concern. While these allegations are under investigation, the mere possibility raises questions about regional mobility, jurisdictional oversight and certificate control.
Trust in Public Institutions
For residents, such rackets undermine trust in public health units, panchayat offices and civil-registration systems. If certificate issuance is perceived as corrupt or arbitrary, the larger institutional credibility suffers.
Challenges & Systemic Weaknesses Revealed
- Digital/Manual Data Vulnerability
While many rural health units still rely on manual registries or outdated digital systems, data-entry manipulation becomes easier. The hospital’s data-entry operator in this case allegedly generated hundreds of fake certificates using back-dated entries. - Weak Internal Audit & Oversight
The certificate-fraud went undetected for months according to the arresting authorities, which points to weak periodic audits, insufficient supervision of certificate flows, and lack of cross-verification between hospital, panchayat and registry offices. - Agent/Intermediary Networks
The role of intermediaries (‘agents’) offering fast-track certificates in exchange for cash suggests an external market for forged certificates, which public officials struggle to control. - Inter-departmental Coordination Gaps
The health department, civil-registration department, electoral roll office, panchayat offices and police all have a stake. Coordination across these departments often lags at block-level offices. - Vulnerability of Border/Difficult Terrain Areas
Blocks such as Kharibari in Darjeeling are geographically remote, administratively stretched, and often serve transient or migrant populations. Oversight is harder and fraud easier to conceal. - Election-Cycle Sensitivity
With the electoral roll revision due, certificate fraud becomes more than administrative—it becomes political. This heightened sensitivity increases the stakes and the urgency of controls.
Stakeholder Reactions & Political Fallout
MLA Shankar Ghosh
The MLA has taken a high-profile stance, filing an RTI and publicly highlighting the risk of fraud feeding into voter-lists and citizenship systems. He said:
“We suspect many more people are involved—the data entry operator alone cannot have done such large-scale work.” (Telegraph India)
Health & Civil Registration Officials
The BMOH lodged the complaint; block health administration has acknowledged the case. The deputy director of health in Darjeeling district said investigations are ongoing, and certificate-issuance logs will be audited.
Local Panchayat & Gram Offices
Some panchayat members have expressed concern that their offices may be implicated or that innocent residents may also face delays in getting legitimate certificates while the probe continues.
Political Parties
The BJP has used the issue to highlight larger governance lapses in the state’s certificate systems and link it to election-integrity concerns. The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has yet to issue a detailed public comment on this matter but may see this as a reputational risk given the timing ahead of elections.
Civil-Society & Voter-Rights Groups
Local NGOs and voter-rights groups are calling for transparent audits of all certificate-issuance units, free verification portals for citizens, and protections for vulnerable populations who may lack documentation or be susceptible to exploitation.
What Needs to Happen: Path Forward
Comprehensive Audit of Certificates
Authorities must conduct a complete audit of all birth and death certificates issued in Kharibari block (and possibly other vulnerable blocks) from a specified start date (e.g., July 2025) to identify outlier volumes, patterns, unusual entries or non-resident addresses.
Data Matching with Voter Rolls
Certificates must be cross-matched with voter-ID applications, electoral roll databases, Aadhaar updates and migration registers to detect inconsistencies.
Strengthen Digital Civil Registration Systems
The health department and civil-registration units should upgrade to secure digital platforms with audit trails, logs of issuance, unique identifiers, officer authentication and real-time monitoring.
Agent Network Crackdown
Police and administrative units should map and dismantle agent/intermediary networks that solicit cash for fraudulent certificates. Stringent prosecution is necessary as a deterrent.
Citizen Awareness & Free Verification
Villagers must be informed of how to verify their certificates, report suspected fraud, and access corrected records. Mobile grievance units, local help-desks and helplines can help.
Inter-departmental Coordination
A joint monitoring cell for certificate-fraud involving health, registration, electoral office, panchayats and police should be instituted. Regular meetings, shared dashboards and accountability matrices are required.
Protect Vulnerable Groups
Special attention must be paid to communities with weak documentation, migrants, tea-garden workers, forest-fringe populations, and the elderly—to ensure they are not disenfranchised or exploited.
Transparency and Political Will
Given the sensitive election context, transparency in investigation progress, public dashboards, open access to data (within privacy norms) and timely prosecution will boost public trust in systems.
Broader Context: Certificate Fraud & Electoral Integrity in India
Certificate fraud is not unique to Kharibari. Across India, bogus birth and death certificates have been used to create false identities, enable migration, manipulate electoral rolls, access welfare schemes, and even to facilitate money-laundering. The linkage with the upcoming special roll revision in West Bengal gives this case a higher profile.
The upcoming SIR (Special Intensive Revision) is set to be one of the largest administrative tasks in the state’s electoral history. Ensuring certificate integrity is fundamental to the credibility of that process. Any perception that election processes may be compromised via fraudulent records can undermine public trust and voter turnout.
In border-states such as West Bengal, with diverse populations, migration history and sensitive citizenship issues, the risk of certificate-fraud being used for illicit vote-registration or phantom entries is heightened. Hence, this case is replaying at the intersection of health administration, civic registration, identity systems and electoral governance.
Potential Scenarios & Impacts
If the Case is Handled Well
- Fraudulent certificate networks are broken, key perpetrators prosecuted
- Certificate issuance systems overhauled, digital logs and audits become regular
- Upcoming electoral roll revision proceeds with improved integrity and public confidence
- Vulnerable citizens feel protected and system credibility improves
If the Case is Mishandled
- Unknown numbers of bogus certificates remain in circulation, feeding fake identities and voter-roll vulnerabilities
- Public trust in health, registration and electoral systems erodes, especially among marginalised groups
- Political conflict intensifies — one party accusing another of facilitating fraud; potential mobilisation of disenfranchised voters
- The upcoming roll revision exercise may face legal challenges, protests or legitimacy issues
Conclusion
What began as a complaint by a Block Medical Officer in Kharibari over fraudulent certificate issuance has grown into a flash-point of governance, electoral-integrity and civic-registration concerns in West Bengal. MLA Shankar Ghosh’s RTI marks an important step in exposing systemic vulnerabilities. But the real test lies ahead: can the health department, civil-registration units, police and electoral machinery collaborate swiftly to audit, rectify and fortify processes?
In this era where identity, documentation and citizenship are deeply intertwined with democracy and rights, the integrity of something as basic as a birth or death certificate cannot be under-estimated. As West Bengal moves toward the 2026 Assembly elections, the robustness of its administrative systems will matter just as much as the political contests.
For Kharibari’s residents, the assault on certificate-fraud is about reclaiming trust and protecting their civic rights. For the state, it is about safeguarding the foundations of its electoral and identity architecture. The outcome may well set the tone for how certificate and registration systems are managed in other vulnerable rural and border regions across India.
External Links (Government / Official)
- Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India – Civil Registration System: https://crsorgi.gov.in/
- Government of India – Births & Deaths Registration Act, 1969: https://legislative.gov.in/act/1969/18
- West Bengal Government – Department of Health & Family Welfare: https://wbhealth.gov.in/
- West Bengal Government – Department of Panchayats & Rural Development: https://rural.wb.gov.in/
- Election Commission of India – Guidelines for Electoral Roll Revision: https://eci.gov.in/
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