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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
R. BANUMATHI, A.S. BOPANNA, JJ.
Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. & Ors. – Appellant(s)
Versus
Shyam Kishore Singh – Respondent(s)
CIVIL APPEAL NO. 1009 OF 2020 (Arising out of SLP (Civil) No.20627 of 2019)
Decided On : 05-02-2020
(a) Service law - Correction of date of birth - Respondent joined service on 27.02.1982 - Date of birth recorded as 04.03.1950 - Respondent retiring on 31.03.2010 - However applying in 2009 for correction of date of birth as 20.01.1955 - Authorities verifying the same from the School Examination Board but refused to correct the date of birth - No error - Correction of date of birth at the fag end after three decades of service not permissible - Even if the recorded date of birth is proved to be erroneous, the correction cannot be claimed as a matter of right. (Para 7, 9)
(b) Constitution of India - Article 226 - Delay and laches - Employee not correcting his date of birth at the time of nomination after 11 years - Seeking correction for the first time after three decades of service, one year before retirement - Not pursuing - Retiring as per recorded date of birth - Approaching High court four years after retirement - Not entitled to any relief. (Para 12)
Facts of the case:
The respondent was appointed as a trainee in the appellants company and joined service as Trainee Dozer Operator with effect from 27.02.1982. Though the respondent claims that he had declared his date of birth as 20.01.1955 in terms of the entry contained in his matriculation certificate his date of birth entered in the service record was 04.03.1950 and had remained so till his retirement on 31.03.2010. In the year 1998 the respondent has submitted the Provident Fund Nomination Form wherein he has indicted the details of his family and shown his wife as his nominee. In the relevant Form also, the respondent had indicated his date of birth as 04.03.1950. The respondent thus having continued in service till the age of superannuation had retired from service on 31.03.2010. Just prior to his retirement, in the year 2009, a representation had been made by the respondent seeking change of the date of birth entered in the records, which was declined by the appellants. The respondent has after the lapse of four years filed the W.P.(S). The single Judge arrived at the conclusion that the appellants are to be directed to make appropriate corrections and pass consequential orders.
The Division Bench was of the opinion that the learned Single Judge had not properly dealt with the aspect of delay in approaching the Court. In that circumstance the Division Bench had limited the attendant benefits payable to the respondent to the salary for one year between the period April, 2010 to March, 2011 as prevailing at that point.
Finding of the Court:
Request for change of the date of birth in the service records at the fag end of service is not sustainable.
Result : Appeal allowed.
JUDGMENT
A.S. Bopanna,J.
Leave granted.
2. The appellants are before this Court assailing the order dated 19.02.2019 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi in LPA No.115 of 2018. Through the said order the Division Bench though has modified the judgment and order dated 13.10.2017 of the learned Single Judge insofar as the extent of relief granted, the contention of the respondent herein relating to the change of date of birth in the service records is accepted and a direction has been issued to the appellants to pay the sum equivalent to salary of one year for the period between the April, 2010 to March, 2011. The appellants thus being aggrieved are before this Court in this appeal.
3. The brief facts are that the respondent herein was appointed as a trainee in the appellants company. He was allotted Personnel No. 00473470 and joined service as Trainee Dozer Operator with effect from 27.02.1982. Though the respondent claims that he had declared his date of birth as 20.01.1955 in terms of the entry contained in his matriculation certificate the fact remains that his date of birth entered in the service record was 04.03.1950 and had remained so from the date of his appointment on 27.02.1982 till his retirement on 31.03.2010. In the year 1998 the respondent has submitted the Provident Fund Nomination Form wherein he has indicted the details of his family and shown his wife as his nominee. In the relevant Form also, the respondent had indicated his date of birth as 04.03.1950. The respondent thus having continued in service till the age of superannuation had retired from service on 31.03.2010. Just prior to his retirement, in the year 2009, a representation had been made by the respondent seeking change of the date of birth entered in the records, which was declined by the appellants. The respondent not having agitated the matter further at that point of time and having retired on 31.03.2010 has after the lapse of four years filed the W.P.(S) No.6172/2014 before the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi. The appellants herein having appeared, filed their objection statement. The learned Single Judge on taking into consideration the nature of the claim put forth was of the view that when the respondent raised the issue regarding correction of the date of birth in the year 2009 the appellants secured verification of the date of birth claimed by the respondent from the Bihar School Examination Board, Patna. On verification it was confirmed that the date of birth in the school records was 20.01.1955. The said verification made by the appellants herein has been held against them by the learned Single Judge and it was observed that if the date 04.03.1950 as entered by the respondent in the service records was correct, there was no occasion for the appellants to verify the same from Bihar School Examination Board. In that circumstance the learned Single Judge being of the opinion that the respondent had passed the matriculation prior to joining the services and in that circumstance the entry of date of birth in the matriculation certificate being 20.01.1955 even before joining the service, has accepted the contention put forth by the respondent and in that background arrived at the conclusion that the appellants are to be directed to make appropriate corrections and pass consequential orders.
4. The Division Bench has in fact referred to the said reasoning adopted by the learned Single Judge relating to the verification made relating to correctness of the matriculation certificate from the Bihar School Examination Board and in that circumstance since the learned Single Judge had also relied on the Full Bench judgment of the Jharkhand High Court in the case of Kamta Pandey vs. M/s BCCI & Ors. [2007 (3) JLJR 726] has upheld the said reasoning assigned by the Learned Single Judge. However, the Division Bench had taken note that the respondent herein had filed the writ petition four years after his retirement for restor
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