Section 7A(2) in The West Bengal Scheduled Castes And Scheduled Tribes (Identification) Act, 1994
(2)On receipt of the application under sub-section (1), the certificate issuing authority, shall verify whether or not the record of the certificate, which has been lost or damaged, is available with it and, -(a)if such record is available with the authority, it shall verify the application with such record, and if the statements relating to the certificate made in the application are true and correct, or(b)if such record is not available with the authority, it shall cause a fresh inquiry to be conducted in the same manner as may be prescribed for issuance of a certificate under section 5, and if findings of the inquiry are satisfactory,it shall issue a duplicate certificate in lieu of lost certificate or a fresh certificate in lieu of damaged certificate, as the case may be, in such form as may be prescribed :Provided that the certificate issuing authority may, for the purpose of issuing the certificate under this section, give a personal hearing to the person requiring such certificate.
