The court emphasized the importance of accurate date of birth records and the consequences of fraud in obtaining employment.

R.M.Prasad, J.

1. In this writ petition, the petitioner has assailed the validity of the order dated 25.6.1999, contained in Annexure-2, passed by the Deputy Administrator of the Patna Municipal Corporation. By the said order, 31.8.99 has been determined as the date of superannuation of the petitioner on the ground that he shall be completing 40 years of service in the Corporation on 9.8.1999.

2. In short, the relevant facts are that the petitioner entered in the service of the Corporation on 10.8.1959 and has been working as Driver-cum-Cinema Operator in the Head Office of the Corporation. It is claimed that his actual date of birth is 15.7.1943 which can be verified from the transfer certificate issued by the Headmaster of Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya Kewra Patna. It is also stated that in the service book his date of birth is recorded as 15.7.1943. A copy of the School Transfer Certificate has been annexed as Annexure-1, which was issued on 5.1.1982, i.e., much after the entry of the petitioner in service.

3. A counter-affidavit has been filed on behalf of respondent Nos. 2 and 3, in which it is admitted that the petitioner was engaged in the service of the Corporation on 10.8.1959 and that 15.7.1943 is recorded as his date of birth in the service book. However, it is stated that the State Government, vide its letter contained in Memo No. 1974 dated 28.5.1991 issued instructions for effecting retirement of the employees who completed 40 years of their service and in compliance of the same, the Administrator of the Corporation issued letter No. 193/C dated 4.8.1992 directing for full and immediate compliance of the said instructions, meaning thereby to retire all such employees who had completed 40 years of their service. It is stated that the issue of compulsory retirement on abovesaid Government instructions came up for consideration in C.W.J.C. No. 8067 of 1992 and a Division Bench of this Court, vide its order dated 17.11.1992 (Annexure-B), dismissed the writ application. Their further case in the counter-affidavit is that the minimum age for appointment under the statutory provisions, namely, Patna Municipal Corporation Officers and Servants (Appointment, Duties, Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1955 is 18 years and, therefore, the petitioner has rightly been superannuated on completion of 40 years of service on 9.8.1999 counting 58 years of age with reference to the minimum age for treating him eligible on the date of his initial appointment.

4. Learned Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that in view of the entry showing 15.7.1943 as the date of birth of the petitioner in the service record, the respondents had no jurisdiction to alter the same and superannuate him on completion of his 40 years of service, vide impugned order. It is submitted that under the Rules, the petitioner is entitled to continue in service till he attains the age of 58 years, which on the basis of the entry made in the service book should be 16.7.2000. As such, it is contended that the action of the respondents in superannuating the petitioner from the service of the Corporation with effect from 31.8.1999 on completion of 40 years of service on 9.8.1999 is wholly arbitrary and mala fide. Learned Counsel for the petitioner has also placed reliance on photocopy of the decision of this Court in the case of Bishwanath Singh V/s. State of Bihar and Ors. C.W.J.C. No. 444 of 1996, in which the order impugned was passed by the Administrator of Patna Municipal Corporation as also the decision of this Court in the case of Shaikh Lal Mohammad V/s. State of Bihar and Ors. 1995 (2) All PLR 441.

5. Learned Counsel appearing for the respondent-Corporation has submitted that the petitioner has produced two evidence in support of his claim that his date of birth is 15.7.1943; (i) transfer certificate issued by the Headmaster of the School (Annexure-1) and (ii) a photo copy of the service book. Both these documents would show that they were issued/prepared