Stray dog officially granted Bihar residence certificate

A jaw-dropping administrative blunder in Patna’s Masaurhi block made headlines when authorities issued a residence certificate to a golden retriever named “Dog Babu”, listing his parents as “Kutta Babu” and “Kutiya Devi” — complete with his photo and a digital signature from a revenue officer, media reports said.

The document was generated amid Bihar’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, conducted under the Bihar Right to Public Service Act.

According to NDTV, the certificate was issued at 3:56pm on July 24, but officials pulled it back by 3:58 pm, calling the incident a serious matter engineered by a “mischievous element.” Patna District Magistrate Thiyagarajan SM confirmed that the application involved an Aadhaar card linked to a woman in Delhi, raising suspicion of tampering. An FIR has been lodged against the applicant, the computer operator, and the issuing official. The operator has since been dismissed, and a recommendation to suspend the officer has been sent to the state government’s revenue department .

The mishap went viral, prompting amusement and anger online. Hindustan Times reported that social media users dubbed it the “funniest fake certificate” and questioned why a dog could obtain residency status while many citizens struggled to have their Aadhaar or ration cards accepted during the electoral revision exercise.

The incident triggered fierce criticism from Bihar opposition leaders, The Times of India reported. RJD’s Tejashwi Prasad Yadav sarcastically remarked, “Nothing moves in Bihar without paying a bribe... the dog must have paid some bribe too.” He questioned how, during the SIR process, Aadhaar and EPIC cards were being rejected as fake while a certificate was issued to a dog.

Political activist and psephologist Yogendra Yadav lambasted Bihar’s e-governance oversight: “See with your own eyes. A dog got its residential certificate... this is the same certificate that is acceptable in the state’s SIR while Aadhaar and ration cards are being called fake” .

Hindustan Times noted that because a digital signature requires a secure government-issued dongle, officials suspect serious credential misuse. The entire affair has focused scrutiny on the integrity and reliability of Bihar’s RTPS system, especially during the high-stakes voter roll revision process.

Patna District Magistrate described the case as “very serious” and confirmed ongoing investigations via the cyber police station to trace the perpetrators. The administration has assured the public that all individuals involved will face disciplinary and legal consequences.