Bizarre! In Bihar, Dog Gets Residence Certificate Amid Row Over SIR Netizens Ask 'Where Is Billi Mausi'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) In a bizarre turn of events from Bihar's Patna district, a residence certificate was issued in the name of a dog. The certificate, processed through the government's Right to Public Services (RTPS) portal in Masaurhi, listed the applicant as 'Dog Babu' and mentioned 'Kutta Babu' and 'Kutiya Devi' as the father and mother, respectively.

To make it worse, the certificate even carried a passport-sized photo of a golden retriever and bore the digital signature of the local revenue officer. The fake document was detected during the Election Commission's ongoing voter verification exercise ahead of the 2025 Bihar Assembly polls .

Also Read | Kejriwal's BIG decision: AAP to fight Bihar elections 2025 solo

The Patna district administration has launched a probe. In a statement, it said,“The certificate issued in the name of 'Dog Babu' has been cancelled. An FIR is being registered against the applicant, the computer operator, and the official involved. Disciplinary action will follow.”

The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of Masaurhi has been asked to submit a report within 24 hours.

The timing of the incident is especially concerning as the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is underway across Bihar to clean up electoral rolls. Out of 66 lakh entries verified so far, over 22 lakh were found to be deceased, 36 lakh voters had either moved away or were untraceable, and several lakh others had duplicate or incomplete entries.

Also Read | 'Feel sad I support this govt': Chirag Paswan slams Nitish over crime surge

The 'Dog Babu' case has now spotlighted the digital verification process of documents submitted through RTPS, a crucial platform citizens use for official documents, including residence certificates, which are mandatory for voter registration, education, and job quotas.

The EC has said genuine electors can still be added during the claims and objections window between 1 August and 1 September.

As political temperatures begin to rise in poll-bound Bihar, the incident has sparked debate over governance lapses, digital verification loopholes, and the need for stricter oversight ahead of the 2025 elections.

Also Read | Bihar Election 2025, a battle of fish fry, mutton rogan josh and biryani?

Reacting to the post, a user wrote,“This has to be the funniest fake certificate. Dog Babu, son of Kutta Babu & Kutiya Devi officially certified as a resident of Bihar. Someone really used a government template to make a dog's residence certificate! Bureaucracy gone wild or meme of the year?”

Another user wrote,“Well, NYC is about to recognise dogs as family members. So we are keeping pace with the world.”

“This happens only in Bihar,” a user added.“Where is billi mausi?,” the third user wrote.

MENAFN28072025007365015876ID1109851328