# Patna High Court: Nepal certificate invalid for PDS licence 2026-08-20T20:37:24+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet The Patna High Court has ruled that for Public Distribution System (PDS) licence eligibility, an educational certificate must be recognised by the Indian government or authorities within India. A single bench of Justice Girijish Kumar upheld the rejection of a candidate who submitted a computer certificate from an institute in Nepal. The petitioner, Samim Mansuri, applied for a PDS shop licence with a Basic Computer Degree Certificate from Golden Computer & Educational Centre in Nawalparasi, Nepal. He argued he was higher on the merit list than the selected candidate, Sikandar Ansari, but was rejected solely because his certificate was from Nepal. Ansari's certificate came from an authorised Indian institution. The court noted a January 30, 2018 order by the Sub-Divisional Officer, Bagaha, requiring government-recognised qualifications. Citing Article 12 of the Constitution, the court held 'Government' means the Government of India or authorities within its territory or control. Finding no error, the court dismissed the petition. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The ruling clarifies that 'government recognition' for licences means recognition by Indian authorities, not any foreign government. This affects thousands of candidates from border districts who study in Nepal due to lower costs. The key question is whether other states will adopt similar interpretations. The next step is whether the petitioner appeals to a division bench. ## Coverage - livelaw.in Straight report of court order with no editorial slant. This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Nepal, Patna High Court, Public Distribution System Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/patna-high-court-nepal-certificate-invalid-for-pds-licence/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/patna-high-court-nepal-certificate-invalid-for-pds-licence/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/