Prayagraj: Complying with directions of the Allahabad High Court, the Prayagraj district magistrate (DM) and district supply officer (DSO) appeared before the court on Friday and handed over Aadhaar and ration cards to a woman who was erroneously declared dead in official records.The DM and DSO candidly acknowledged the administrative lapse before the court and informed the bench that the petitioner’s ration card had been restored. They also submitted that the then supply inspector responsible for the error had already been suspended in connection with another matter.Recording the officers’ submissions, a division bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla disposed of the writ petition and exempted the personal appearance of the DM and DSO.Chanda Devi had moved the high court claiming that despite being alive, she had been shown as deceased in revenue records, leading to the cancellation of her ration card and denial of foodgrain benefits. She sought directions for issuance of a ration card so that her family could access subsidised food supplies.Entertaining the petition, the high court on July 30 directed the DM, DSO and the gram pradhan of Wari village in Phulpur block of Handia tehsil in Prayagraj to appear before it on July 31.In compliance with the order, the DM and DSO appeared before the court and handed over the Aadhaar and ration cards to Chanda Devi.According to records placed before the court, Chanda Devi, wife of late Sadhu Ram, was the head of a family covered under a ration card with six units. Following Sadhu Ram’s death on Jan 25, 2021, the then area supply inspector, Nand Kishore Yadav, allegedly deleted all six units from the family’s ration card on April 14, 2025, instead of removing only the deceased member’s name.The court directed the authorities to issue a revised ration card covering all eligible family members by August 3. It further ordered that the ration benefits denied to the petitioner during the intervening period be provided to her at prescribed rates.Observing that the case arose from a serious administrative blunder, the bench said, “For the death of one member of the family, the head of the family was regarded as dead and the entire units of the family were deleted.”Noting that the authorities had acknowledged the mistake and restored the petitioner’s ration card, the court directed that the units of all remaining family members be restored within 24 hours of submission of their Aadhaar cards. It also ordered the district supply inspector to personally receive the documents without routing them through subordinate staff.
