K A VARKEY Vs. KERALA STATE ELECTRICITY BOARD

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This appeal is against the judgment in O.P. No. 15175/2001 which was dismissed by the learned single Judge. Appellant is the petitioner in the Original Petition.

(2.) As per the entries in the Service Book of the appellant, his date of birth is 21.5.1946. On that basis, he was due to retire from service on 31.5.2001. However, the appellant submitted Ext. P5 representation dated 8.1.2001 praying for correction of his date of birth in the service book as 18.3.1953. In Ext. P5 the appellant stated that though his correct date of birth was 18.3.1953, it was wrongly recorded in the Service Book as 21.5.1946 due to the mischief of someone who had got personal enmity towards him. He also produced a certificate from St. Pius X Church, Pius Mount, Kizhakamattam which showed that Varkey Kaniyankandathil S/o Avira and Mariam was born on 18.3.1953 and was baptised on 24.3.1953. Since the respondents did not correct the date of birth of the appellant even after Ext. P5 representation, the Original Petition was filed by the appellant for a direction to the respondents to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in his Service Book.

(3.) The learned single Judge dismissed the Original Petition holding that the petitioners application for correction of his date of birth was highly belated and, therefore, he was not entitled to any of the reliefs claimed in the Original Petition. From the impugned judgment it is seen that the Service Book of the petitioner was perused by the learned single Judge. In the Service Book it is written that the date of birth was recorded as 21.5.1946 on the basis of a certificate dated 24.5.1986 issued by the St. Pius X Church, Pius Mount, Kizhakkemattam P.O., Via. Melukavumattom, Kottayam District. The learned single Judge refused to consider the claim of the petitioner based on a fresh certificate issued from the very same Church. We do not find any illegality in the decision of the learned single Judge. When the date of birth in the Service Book is seen recorded on the basis of a certificate issued by the Church, there is no justification for placing reliance on another certificate issued by the same Church after several years to support the claim of the person on the eve of his retirement. Merely because the original certificate is not kept in the Service Book, it cannot be presumed that a mistake might have happened while recording the date of birth in the Service Book. Even if such a mistake had happened, the appellant ought to have got it corrected immediately. The absence of the original certificate in the Service Book and the production of a fresh certificate on the eve of retirement cast a shadow on the genuineness of the claim.