Tara Chand vs Union Of India

The applicant, an Assistant Section Officer under the Ministry of External Affairs, filed the OA seeking the following reliefs:-

"(a) Consider the representation dated 12.03.2019.

(b) Stay the date of retirement dated 30.04.2019 of the humble applicant.

( c) Pass any other order/orders which deem fit and proper in the interest of justice".

Heard Shri Kartar Singh, the learned counsel for the applicant and Shri S.M. Zulfiqar Alam, the learned counsel for the respondents on receipt of advance notice.

Shri Kartar Singh, the learned counsel for the applicant submits that the correct date of birth of the applicant is 02.07.1960 but his date of birth was wrongly recorded as 30.04.1959 when he joined in service on 27.09.1982. He made Annexure A-1 representation dated 12.03.2019 to the 1st respondent-Foreign Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs seeking correction of his date of birth. He also submits that he has filed a Civil Suit before the Hon'ble Court of Civil Judge (Sr. Division), Faridabad during February, 2018 seeking a declaration that his date of birth is 02.07.1960 instead of 30.04.1959 along with other reliefs and the said suit is pending. Now the respondents are proceeding to retire the applicant from service with effect from 30.04.2019, basing on his wrong date of birth of 30.04.1959, as recorded in his service record. Hence, the OA.

On the point of correction in date of birth, the Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh Vs. Megh Raj Garg and Another (2010) INSC 414 has held as under:-

"12. This Court has time and again cautioned civil courts and the High Court's against entertaining and accepting the claim made by the employees long after entering into service for correction of the recorded date of birth.

In Union of India v. Harnam Singh (supra), this Court considered the question whether the employer was justified in declining the respondent's request for correction of date of birth made after thirty five years of his induction into the service and whether the Central Administrative Tribunal was justified in allowing the original application filed by him. While reversing the order of the Tribunal, this Court observed:

"A Government servant, after entry into service, acquires the right to continue in service till the age of retirement, as fixed by the State in exercise of its powers regulating conditions of service, unless the services are dispensed with on other grounds contained in the relevant service rules after following the procedure prescribed therein. The date of birth entered in the service records of a civil servant is, thus of utmost importance for the reason that the right to continue in service stands decided by its entry in the service record. ......A Government servant who makes an application for correction of date of birth beyond the time, so fixed, therefore, cannot claim, as a matter of right, the correction of his date of birth even if he has good evidence to establish that the recorded date of birth is clearly erroneous....."

Similarly in Union of India Vs. Rama Swamy and Others, AIR 1997 SC 2055 the Supreme Court held that "the date of birth can be changed only if there was a bona fide mistake". It was also held that "the principle of estoppel will apply and hence when the Government servant had indicated a particular date of birth in his application form or any other document at the time of employment, the Court should not change that date of birth. The ratio of the above decision shall apply with greater rigidity in U. P. because here the 1974 Rules specifically provide that no application or representation shall be entertained regarding change of date of birth in any circumstances whatsoever".

The applicant having joined in service on 27.09.1982 and being fully aware that his date of birth was recorded in the Service Register as 30.04.1959, has not taken any steps for correction of the same till 12.03.2019, i.e., the date on which he made Annexure A-1 first representation to the respondents. Even the Suit was also filed in the year 2018. It was also not his case that he came to know about his wrong recording of date of birth as 30.04.1959 instead of 02.07.1960 in his Service Register only recently.

In the circumstances and for the aforesaid reasons, and in view of the settled principle of law, we do not find any merit in the OA and accordingly the same is dismissed. No costs.