Employment rights include the correction of clerical errors impacting service continuity, with adherence to principles of natural justice necessary when determining an employee's age.

ORDER :

NUPUR BHATI, J.

1. The present writ petition has been filed with the following prayers:-

“1. That the writ petition may kindly be allowed and the impugned order dated 30.01.2015 (Annexure-8) may kindly be quashed and set-aside. It may also be held that the petitioner is entitled for continuity of services with all consequential benefits and relief.

2. That the respondents may further be directed to made a necessary correction in the entry of date of birth of the petitioner in column No. 3 of the particulars of the government servant in the service record and it may kindly be declared that a date of birth of the petitioner is 30.4.1961 instead of 01.07.1955.

3. Any other appropriate order or direction that may be deemed just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case kindly is passed in favour of the petitioner.”

2. Brief facts of the case, as stated in the writ petition are that the petitioner was duly and regularly appointed by the District Establishment Committee, Zila Parishad, Churu, vide order dated 03.07.1989. Thereafter, the respondents themselves treated the petitioner as a regular Class IV employee by granting him a regular pay scale under the Rajasthan Municipalities (Class IV Service) Rules, 1963, preparing his service book, and extending to him all consequential service benefits, including annual increments and pay fixation, as admissible under the Rajasthan Service Rules, 1951. However, due to a blatant clerical error committed by the office staff, the petitioner’s date of birth was incorrectly entered in the service book as 01.07.1955 instead of his actual and correct date of birth, i.e., 30.04.1961, without any notice to or knowledge of the petitioner. Upon coming to know of the said mistake for the first time in November 2014, the petitioner promptly submitted a detailed representation along with authentic documentary evidence seeking correction of his date of birth. Despite the availability of unimpeachable records and internal correspondence acknowledging the error, the respondents failed to take any corrective action and, relying solely on the erroneous entry, prematurely and illegally retired the petitioner from service w.e.f. 30.06.2015 vide impugned order dated 30.01.2015. Being gravely prejudiced by the arbitrary action of premature retirement and the continued inaction of the respondents in rectifying the patent error in his service record, the petitioner has been left with no efficacious alternative remedy except to invoke the extraordinary jurisdiction of the Court by filing the present writ petition.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner at the time of the appointment on the post of Safai Karamchari, had submitted a declaration of date of birth by way of Affidavit (Annexure-3) indicating his date of birth as 30.04.1961 and that he was born at Talba, Sangwada. She submits that the respondents have wrongly entered the date of the birth of the petitioner as 01.07.1955 instead of 30.04.1961. She further submits that the respondents in the reply have alleged that the petitioner along with the joining report on 24.05.1989 had produced a Health Certificate dated 19.05.1989 wherein he mentioned his age as 34 years and as per the appearance, the petitioner looked around 34 years. She submits that when petitioner has submitted a declaration of date of birth by way of Affidavit specifically indicating his date of birth as 30.04.1961, there was no occasion for the respondents to consider his date of birth as 01.07.1955.

4. Learned counsel