Jan - High Court of Judicature at Allahabad

2 INDIAN LAW REPORTS ALLAHABAD SERIES [2012November, 2011 dismissing theappellant's Writ Petition No. 62099 of2011.2. We have heard learned counselfor the appellant.3. The short question involved inthis appeal is as to whether the date ofbirth recorded in the service book of anemployee can be modified or changed athis instance after long lapse of time or atthe fag end of his service.?4. It appears that the appellant wasappointed as a Contract Labour in themonth of February, 1980 in the CentralStore Division of Parkisha ThermalPower Corporation at Pariksha in thedistrict of Jhansi (hereinafter referred toas the 'Corporation'). His date of birth inthe service book was recorded as 5thNovember, 1951. However, in the IdentityCard, his date of birth was mentioned as6th November, 1962. The appellantclaims that when he came to know inJanuary 1991 that his date of birth in theservice record is wrongly recorded as 5thNovember 1951 in place of 6thSeptember, 1962, he moved anapplication on 15.02.1991 for correctionof his date of birth. He further claims thatpursuant to the said application, theauthority concerned assured thatnecessary correction would be made inthe service record, however, nothing wasdone. Thereafter, the appellant submittedvarious representations/reminders but allwent in vain. The appellant, however, didnot pursue the matter. Thereafter, theappellant was served with the notice dated6th September, 2011 intimating him thatas per service record, wherein his date ofbirth is mentioned as 5th November,1951, he shall retire on 30th November,2011 on completion of 60 years of age.The aggrieved appellant, therefore, filedthe aforesaid writ petition for quashingthe notice dated 6th September, 2011 onthe ground, inter-alia, that his real date ofbirth is 6th September, 1962 and as farback as in 1991, he made a request forcorrection of his date of birth but withoutcorrecting the same or disposing of hisapplication, he has been served with thenotice, impugned in the writ petition. Thelearned Single Judge, in the order hastaken note of the fact that there is nodenial by the appellant that his date ofbirth in the service book is recorded as 5thNovember, 1951, hence, he will attain theage of superannuation on 30th November,2009 and his claim for continuance inservice on the basis of the date of birthrecorded in his Identity Card cannot beallowed. The learned Single Judge,therefore, relying on a judgment of ApexCourt in the case of Burn Standard Co.Ltd. & Ors. Vs. Shri DinabandhuMajumdar & Anr., JT 1995 (4) SC 23,wherein it has been held that the date ofbirth cannot be allowed to be changed atthe verge of retirement, dismissed the writpetition. Hence, this appeal.5. Learned counsel for the appellantvehemently contended that the learnedSingle Judge did not appreciate thesubmissions and the necessary facts foradjudication of the case and, therefore,fell in error in dismissing the writ petition.The contention is that the appellant, whencame to know that his date of birth iswrongly recorded as 5th November, 1951,immediately filed the representation forits correction on 15.02.1991, whichremained un-disposed by the authoritiesconcerned despite several reminders.Learned counsel submits that thecertificate issued by the Chief Medical