The West Bengal government has launched a state-level audit after discovering what it called an abnormally high number of birth certificates issued in 2025 ahead of the special intensified review (SIR) of the electoral list for the 2026 Lok Sabha elections.
Officials said orders were issued on Thursday to confiscate all records related to birth and death certificates. An official, who requested anonymity, said: “We are collecting all records maintained by municipalities and local councils. The data will be collected, and the records will be returned to the local bodies after two or three days.” The data will be examined over a period of three to four months to identify fake certificates.
Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Agarwal described this as a cleansing exercise. He stressed that those with real certificates obtained through legal channels have no reason to worry. “Necessary action will be taken against those found to have obtained certificates using forged documents.”
Police on Thursday conducted searches in local bodies across West Bengal, including the Kolkata Municipal Corporation headquarters, as part of an investigation into alleged irregularities in the issuance of birth and death certificates. Investigators examined birth and death records, scrutinized computer records and collected documents.
The police are also handling specific complaints and collecting records as part of the investigation, the first official cited above said. He added: “Inspections are being conducted in accordance with government directives, and no conclusion should be reached until the investigation is completed.”
Officials said that elected representatives in civic bodies and local councils will no longer have the powers to issue birth and death certificates. “Only designated government officials will be allowed to issue birth and death certificates, as they can be held accountable.”
Agarwal said that after the elections, they received complaints about fake birth and death certificates issued during the revolution. He added that the state police chief also received complaints through the state intelligence office about the purchase of identity documents using forged birth certificates. Agarwal said some cases are still pending before the Calcutta High Court and the CID is also investigating them.
Between 4,000 and 6,000 of these certificates were issued in at least two places, Kakdweep in South 24 Parganas and Matigara in Darjeeling, people familiar with the matter said.
Agarwal cited a test examination and said that at least 11,390 out of 46,998 late birth certificates issued were found to be fake. “Of the 11,24,000 digital certificates examined during the test, about 1,80,000 certificates were found to be fake,” he said.
Government data showed a big jump in the issuance of birth certificates in 2025. In 2023, 1,21,453 such certificates were issued, and 3,81,591 in 2024. In 2025, the number jumped to 10,50,441.
A third official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the largest number of such certificates were issued in three Muslim-majority districts: Murshidabad, Malda and North Dinajpur.
There were disproportionate voter deletions associated with the SIR in Muslim-dominated areas and Assembly constituencies. The difference in absolute votes polled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) was similar to the total SIR deletions. The TMC asserted that the deletions helped the BJP win the West Bengal elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party, which came to power in the state for the first time, winning 207 seats out of 294, has rejected this association. The number of TMC seats has been reduced to 80 seats.
