IMPORTANT POINT
The correction of date of birth in official records is subject to procedural requirements and cannot be claimed as a matter of right, especially after unreasonable delays.

JUDGMENT :

(Rajarshi Bharadwaj, J.)

The instant writ petition is preferred by one Md Khurshid Alam herein the writ petitioner challenging the letter dated 17.09.2013 by Deputy Secretary (Academic) and S P.I.O (HQ) dismissing application for correction of date of birth and name of father of the petitioner.

2. The facts of the case are that petitioner who appeared for Madhyamik (Secondary) Examination under West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in 1982 was issued an admit card recording his date of birth as 15.01.1965 instead of 10.01.1967. The name of the petitioner's father was incorrectly recorded as "Md Moin Ansari" instead of "Md Moin". The petitioner came to know about such discrepancies in his admit card in 2010.

3. The petitioner on 13.04.2010 made a representation to the Secretary, West Bengal Board of Secondary Education herein respondent No.1 by filing an application form for rectification of date of birth and name of father which was not taken into consideration. Thereafter an application under The Right to Information Act, 2005 was filed on 20.11.2012 seeking information regarding order passed in response to application dated 13.04.2010.

4. The petitioner's prayer for correction of the aforesaid particulars in the admit card was rejected by letter dated 17.09.2013 under Memo No. Inf/163/13 stating "In response to the aforesaid application the relevant department has informed that as the Date of Birth denotes underage at the time of admission in Class V, that has been stated to be the cause of rejection of the prayer of Date of Birth correction"

Thus, aggrieved by the preceding letter dated 17.09.2013 by Deputy Secretary (Academic) and S P.I.O (HQ), the present writ petition lies.

5. The Learned Counsel for the petitioner submits that as per Admission Register of Kendwa High School, the date of birth of the petitioner was 10.01.1967. However, the respondent authorities committed a clerical mistake in the Madhyamik admit card of the petitioner by recording an incorrect date of birth and name of father. Despite repeated representations made on 13.04.2010 and 20.11.2012 to correct the said mistakes, the respondent authorities continued to rely upon a fictious date of birth supplied by the school authority without consulting the petitioner.

6. The petitioner who was born in the year 1967 was aged about nine years at the time of admission in Class V in 1976 and fifteen years at the time of Madhyamik examinations in 1982. The age once recorded in the Transfer Certificate of the previous school cannot be altered. The reason that the petitioner was underage thereby rejecting the application for correction of date of birth of the petitioner by the respondent authority is arbitrary and illegal.

7. The Learned Counsel for the respondent authorities submit that petitioner at the time of presenting his application for alteration of date of birth and name of father failed to produce Birth Registration Certificate or Voter's Identity Card or other relevant and valid documents to prove his actual date of birth. Entry of date of birth in the Admission Register of school cannot provide irrefutable conclusive proof as to date of birth and name of the father of the petitioner.

8. It is further submitted that the petitioner had no knowledge of the clerical error in the admit card since 1982 and in 2010, no sufficient cause was given by him to explain the inordinate delay in preferring an application for rectification of date of birth. By Circular No. Age/ G/I/October/77 published by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on 03.10.1997, the claim of the petitioner is barred by the following provision :

"8. If in spite of all possible precautions, any clerical error (including the case of any absurd date of birth) occurs, the fact should be reported to the Board either by the Headmasters Headmistress or by the legal guardian of the pupil through the Headmaster/Headmistress of the school for necessary correction in the entry of dat