A claim to correct a date of birth after 25 years must be supported by clear evidence of an initial error; mere delay undermines the legitimacy of such requests.

ORDER :

1. The employer is the appellant and assails the correctness of the judgment and order dated 06.09.2023 passed by the Division Bench of the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi in LPA No. 25 of 2022, titled as Workman-Shahdeo Das vs. Employer in relation to Management of Katras Area of M/s Bharat Coking Coal Limited, Dhanbad, whereby the appeal was allowed, the order of the Single Judge was set aside and the award of the Central Government Industrial Tribunal No.1, Dhanbad¹[In short, “CGIT”] dated 30.09.2020 was restored. By the said award, CGIT had allowed the reference and permitted the change in date of birth of the respondent from 18.09.1960 to 05.01.1972, apparently based on a Transfer/School Leaving Certificate issued in 2015.

2. The respondent joined the services of the appellant with effect from 24.09.1990. In the service book, the date of birth was recorded as 18.09.1960 corresponding to the age of 30 years. This age was informed by the respondent himself at the time of joining. No documentary proof of the date of birth was furnished by the respondent and the same was recorded in the service book on his declaration. A copy of the service book has been filed as Annexure P-1.

3. Apart from mentioning the date of birth as indicated above, the service book further records that the respondent was married at the time of joining and had four children. The relevant details are mentioned in column ‘6’ titled ‘Details of Dependents’ which reads as follows:

Details of dependents

4. During the course of arguments, a xerox copy of the service book was also placed before us, which, apart from mentioning the above facts also bears the signatures of the respondent along with the date 17.06.1992.

5. For 25 years, the respondent did not raise any objection with respect to his date of birth. However, in October/November 2015, he applied for correction of date of birth on the basis of Transfer Certificate/School Leaving Certificate of Matriculation Examination issued on 05.11.2015, requesting that his date of birth be corrected to 05.01.1972. The appellant did not accept the request of the respondent. An industrial dispute was raised by the respondent, which got referred to CGIT after conciliation failed.

6. CGIT by its award dated 30.09.2020 directed correction of date of birth from 1960 to 1972. The award was challenged by the appellant by way of Writ Petition No. 2866 of 2021 before the High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi. The Single Judge, vide judgment and order dated 5/28.10.2021 after appreciating the facts of the case and also the law on the point, allowed the writ petition and set aside the award of CGIT. The Single Judge in particular relied upon the judgment of this Court in the case of Bharat Coking Coal Limited & Others vs. Shyam Kishore Singh, (2020) 3 SCC 411, Factory Manager, Kirloskar Brothers Limited vs. Laxman , (2020) 3 SCC 419, and State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Premlal Shrivas , (2011) 9 SCC 664 for arriving at the conclusion that applying for correction of date of birth after a delay of 25 years almost towards the end of service, is not to be permitted.

7. Aggrieved by the judgment of the Single Judge, the respondent preferred Letters Patent Appeal registered as LPA No. 25 of 2022. By the impugned judgment dated 06.09.2023, the Division Bench allowed the