PRAYAGRAJ, Nov. 23 -- The Allahabad high court has come down heavily on the state's birth certificate issuance system and observed "prima facie, it's a mess" after discovering that a petitioner had procured two different birth certificates showing entirely different dates of birth. The court said the system reveals the "extent of dishonesty existing at all levels". It directed the principal secretary, medical health, the department in-charge of issuing these certificates to file a detailed affidavit in the case. The principal secretary has been asked to give an "explanation regarding the state of affairs existing in his department, specifically in relation to the issuance of birth certificates". Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta directed the principal secretary to suggest steps so that only one birth certificate is ever issued to a person. The matter came to light during the hearing of a writ petition filed by one Shivanki. During the hearing, deputy director, UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India), Regional Office, Lucknow, filed certain documents concerning the petitioner, including two separate birth certificates, both issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths, but from two different places and also showing different dates of birth. The court noted that the first certificate, issued from the primary health centre at Manauta, recorded the petitioner's date of birth as December 10, 2007. However, a second certificate issued from the gram panchayat at Har Singhpur, showed a completely different date of birth: January 1, 2005. The court warned that such documents can be used as strong prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein, even for criminal prosecutions. "Prima facie, it's a mess. It appears that anyone at any point of time can get a date of birth certificate issued with whichever date they want from wherever in the state. In one way, this shows the extent of dishonesty existing at all levels, and how easy it is to get these documents made which can be used as strong prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein, even for criminal prosecutions", the bench said in its order dated November 18. The bench has also sought the details of the steps or provisions existing to ensure that no fraudulent certificates can be issued by the department. The court has now posted the matter for hearing on December 10....