AWDHESH KUMAR SINGH Vs. DIRECTOR PERSONNEL AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In the instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner has prayed writ of mandamus commanding respondents/authorities to treat his date of birth as 15/1/1961 in place of 10/11/1958.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner joined Colliery service on 10/11/1981. At the time of entering into services, on the basis of initial Medical Examination (1ME) in the Form 'O' his date of birth was mentioned as approximate age 23 years on 10/11/1981. The services of the petitioner were regularized as per the order dtd. 23/1/1983. He was promoted to the post of Mining Sardar-Cum-Short-Firer (MS-Cum-SF Tech. Gr.C.) by order dtd. 21/12/1990. Sardar certificate was issued by the Board of Mining Examinations under the provisions of Coal Mines Regulations, 1957 under the Mines Act, 1952. The petitioner has heavily relied on the said certificate in support of this contention that his date of birth is 15/1/1961 as it was mentioned in the said certificate. It is contended that the date of birth of the petitioner in the mark-sheets Annexures P-1, P-2 and P-3 is recorded as 15/1/1961 but despite the said fact the respondents have recorded approximate age 23 years as on 10/11/1981 in Annexure P-4 in the service record. It is also contended that the respondents have accepted the date of birth of the petitioner as 15/1/1961 and therefore, the same was mentioned in the provisional seniority list of Production-Cum-Safety Asstt. T and S Grade-B issued on 18/6/2015 where the name of the petitioner is at Serial No. 29. In another seniority list published on 12/1/2018, again the same date of birth was mentioned. The petitioner has further submitted that after receiving the information relating to wrong entry in Form "B", the petitioner had given written affidavit in Stamp Paper to the competent officer for correction of date of birth in the year 1987. He has further given representations on 25/12/2002 (P-9), 25/4/2016 (P-10), 16/8/2017 (P-ll) and 29/8/2017 (P-12).

(3.) Learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner vehemently argued that the petitioner was given employment by the respondents on the basis of his registration in the Employment Exchange and while applying for registration in the employment exchange, he had given his mark-sheet in which his date of birth 15/1/1961 was recorded, therefore, the said date of birth was very much within the knowledge of the employer.