Dhananjay Mahapatra/TNN

New Delhi, Oct 18: The unending extension of reservation benefits, envisaged to last only 10 years by the framers of the Constitution, and continuous expansion of the number of communities that could avail it has had an unusual fall out - many a general candidate forging caste certificates.

The number of forged caste certificate cases reaching the SC made a worried Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice P Sathasivam speak out openly about the problem in general rather than focus on the individual case - a Maharashtra general category candidate seeking scheduled caste status relying on a 1945 document signed by his grandfather.

"The business of forging caste certificates has become rampant, especially in Maharashtra. People are resorting to litigation relying on documents of yesteryears even when their fathers had never claimed to have belonged to a community recognized as scheduled caste," the Bench said on Friday.

Appearing for petitioner Yashwant, counsel Shivaji Jadhav pleaded that his client's grandfather had described himself as a Mahadeo Koli, a community included in the scheduled caste list, hence he should not be categorised under the general category.