New Delhi, March 17 (TIWN) The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought reply from Centre and states, on a plea alleging cancellation of nearly four crore ration cards, in the absence of linkages with the Aadhaar card.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said: "The matter is too serious. We have to hear it."     The observation came on a plea filed by Koili Devi, mother of an 11-year-old girl, who allegedly died of starvation on September 28, 2017. The top court noted that this matter should not be treated as adversarial.  "Insistence on Aadhar and biometric authentication had led to the cancellation of nearly 4 crore ration cards in the country according to the Union of India. The Union of India casually gives an explanation that these cancelled cards were bogus," said the plea.  Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, representing the petitioner, said the matter deals with a larger issue. The bench told him that the relief sought is very omnibus and widened the scope of the matter.