Correction of date of birth in service records is not a matter of right and is subject to procedural and timely constraints, particularly if raised at the fag end of service.

ORDER :

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJESH SHANKAR

The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the respondents to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in the service record as ‘05.09.1967’ in place of ‘13.05.1965’.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner had passed the matriculation examination in the year 1983 and in the matriculation certificate issued by the Bihar School Examination Board, Patna, his date of birth was recorded as ‘05.09.1967’. Subsequently, the petitioner joined the service as Miner/Loader on 22.01.1987 at Khas Kusunda Colliery under the respondent-BCCL. In the year 1987 itself, a service excerpt was issued from the service record of the petitioner wherein his date of birth was mentioned as 05.09.1967 and he was under the impression that his date of birth was rightly recorded as per his matriculation certificate. However, recently the petitioner came to know from the “Date of Birth Cell” that his date of birth has been mentioned as 13.05.1965 whereas in the service excerpts, Form-B and Colliery Identity Card, his date of birth has been mentioned as 05.09.1967. The petitioner filed representations dated 20.08.2016 and 16.07.2018 before the respondent no. 2 for correcting his date of birth in the service record as ‘05.09.1967’, however, the same has not been corrected, which has compelled him to file the present writ petition.

3. It is further submitted that as per Implementation Instruction No. 76 of the National Coal Wage Agreement (NCWA)-III, the date of birth of the existing employee who is matriculate, must be determined only on the basis of date of birth recorded in the matriculation certificate issued by the Examination Board and as such, the respondents are bound to correct the date of birth of the petitioner as recorded in his matriculation certificate i.e., 05.09.1967.

4. On the contrary, learned counsel for the respondent-BCCL submits that the petitioner had not produced his matriculation certificate at the time of appointment and, therefore, his age was determined by the medical board as 21 years as on 13.05.1986. The date of birth of the petitioner was recorded in the statutory Form-B as well as other service records as 13.05.1965 which was duly authenticated by him by putting his signature. If the matriculation certificate issued in the year 1983 by the Bihar School Examination Board, Patna was available with the petitioner at the time of his appointment i.e., on ‘22.01.1987’, he should have submitted the same as a proof of his date of birth, but he did not do so. Moreover, the petitioner has raised the dispute by filing the present writ petition after rendering considerable service of more than 31 years which cannot be entertained at such a belated stage.

5. It is further submitted that the petitioner was transferred to Godhur Colliery in the year 1990 and his name and details were entered at page no. 84 of the statutory Form-B register of the said colliery at Serial No. 2312, wherein his date of birth was recorded as 13.05.1965, however, later on he in conspiracy with the concerned employee of the office, re-entered his date of birth as 05.09.1967. The records of Godhur Colliery were burnt by the miscreants in April 2011 and thereafter the service book of the petitioner was recreated wherein his date of birth was re