P. SANKARAN Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The prayer in the Original Petition is for a writ of certiorari to quash Ext. P12 order refusing to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in the service records and also to declare that the petitioner is entitled to get his date of birth corrected in the service records as 24-8-1936. There are also other reliefs prayed for.

(2.) Petitioner is an employee of the respondent working as Administrative Assistant in the office of the Conservator and Custodian of vested forests, Olavakkot, Circle, Kozhikode. His date of birth entered in the service book is 15-8-1935. But according to him, his real date of birth is 24-8-1936 and g the date of birth entered in the service book is a mistake. He realised this mistake some time in August, 1987 and made a request by Ext. P1 to correct his date of birth in the service records as 24-8-1936. But Ext. P1 was returned stating that the request for correction of the date of birth will be considered only on correction of the date of birth entered by the Commissioner for Government Examinations in the S. S. L. C. Book of the petitioner. Thereafter, he took steps to get the date of birth in the S. S.L. C. Book corrected. For that purpose, the procedure mentioned in Chap.6 R.3 of the Kerala Education Rules had to be complied with. Petitioner took steps in this regard to get the delay condoned in making the application for q correction of the date of birth and thereafter got the date of birth corrected in the S. S. L. C. Book, as 24-8-1936. Ext. P5 dated 30-9-1988 is the order correcting the date of birth in the S. S. L. C. Ext. P5 was received by the petitioner only on 5-10-1988. Since it was apprehended that the two year period prior to retirement before which applications for correction of date of birth in the service book should be submitted would expire if the petitioner awaited the receipt of the order allowing correction, petitioner made an application, by way of abundant caution, on 5-8-1988. That application is Ext. P6. Petitioner is due to retire from service according to the existing entries in the service books on 31-8-1990 and therefore, Ext. P6 application for correction of date of birth made on 5-8-1988 is well within time, viz., D before two years prior to retirement. After getting the date of birth corrected in the S. S. L. C. Book, petitioner forwarded the same by Ext. P7 dated 10-10-1988. The purport of Ext. P7, as will be seen, is to forward the corrected copy of the S. S. L. C. book supplying the evidence in support of Ext. P6. The Government rejected the request by Ext. P8 dated 21-4-1989 on the ground that Ext. P6 application for correction of the date of birth is not accompanied by corrected copy of the S. S. L. C. Book, and therefore, only Ext. P7 of 10-10-1988 can be treated as valid application. That application cannot be considered on the merit as the same is filed within two years of the date of superannuation. This order of the Government was the subject matter of O. P. No. 5157 of 1989 1 before this Court. The grievances of the petitioner was considered by this Court in Ext. P9 judgment. This Court noted that even though the petitioner made the application for correction of date of birth on 24-8-1987 and a second petition on 5-8-1988, the Government rejected the same on the ground that the date of birth was corrected in the S. S. L. C. Book only subsequently. The contention of the petitioner at that time was that the stand taken by the Government that the application must accompany the corrected copy of the S. S. L. C. Book was not correct in view of the decision reported in Prabhakaran Nair v. State of Kerala ( 1990 (1) KLT 858 ) and also the judgment in O. P. No. 8041 of 1989. This Court held that the application for correction of the date of birth submitted more than two years prior to the date of retirement will have to be entertained. There is nothing in those decisions to support the stand taken by the Government Pleader that such an application for correction of date of birth should be submitted more than two years prior to retirement, accompanied by the S. S. L. C. Book as corrected. The decision in Prabhakaran Nair's case referred to above was affirmed by a Division Bench of this Court in the judgment in W. A. No. 198 of 1990. In the decision reported in 1990 (1) KLT 858 the learned single Judge observed:

(3.) Admittedly, an application for correction of date of birth has been made by the petitioner by Ext. P6 dated 5-8-1988. That application was well within time, viz. more than two years before the date of retirement. Evidence in support of the application warranting correction of date of birth has been produced later. In this case, the evidence was the S. S. L. C. Book as corrected. Petitioner obtained the same only on 5-10-1988. Petitioner did everything he could to get the date of birth in the S. S. L. C. Book corrected so as to enable him to apply for correction in the service book within time, viz. more than two years before the date of retirement. When correction in the S. S. L. C. Book was not forthcoming, he made an application, Ext. P6, within time to get the date of birth corrected in the service book in O. P. No. 10208 of 1990 this Court observed: