STATE OF ORISSA Vs. JAGADISH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) PLAINTIFF -Respondent No. 1 filed O.S. No. 178 of 1986 for a declaration that his correct date of birth is 15.4.1943 and the date of birth mentioned in the High School Certificate was wrong. The suit having been dismissed, he filed an appeal and during the pendency of the appeal, an application for amendment of the prayer portion of the plaint was filed and accordingly, the lower appellate Court permitted the amendment. By virtue of the said amendment, the Plaintiff sought for an additional direction to Defendant No. 1 to correct the date of birth of the Plaintiff as 15.4.1943 instead of 15.4.1939 in the Service Book. The lower appellate Court while reversing the decree of the trial Court has passed a decree declaring the date of birth of the Plaintiff to be 15.4.1943 and further declaring that the date of birth as mentioned in the High School Certificate as 15.4.1939 was wrong. The Defendants were also directed to reflect the correct date of birth in the service record. The State which was Defendant No. 1 has come up with this Second Appeal against the aforesaid reversing decree of the lower appellate Court.

(2.) THE Plaintiff, who at the time of filing of the suit was admittedly serving as a lecturer in a Government College, claims that though his correct date of birth is 15.4.1943 and had been so entered in the School Admission Register in Raghunarayan M.E. School, Markona, subsequently his date of birth was wrongly recorded as 15.4.1939 in Khaira School where he was admitted in 1956 and consequently, the said wrong date was incorporated in the High School certificate Examination conducted by the Board of Secondary Education. The Plaintiff claims that the aforesaid error crept into the records of the High School due to the fact that in the Transfer Certificate issued by the M.E.School, Markona, a wrong date of birth i.e. 15.4.1939 had been mistakenly indicated which could not be detected by his father due to the illiteracy of the latter. The Plaintiff further claims that he could know about his real date of birth only in the year 1984. when his Horoscope was shown to an astrologer Thereafter, an Advocate's notice was served on the Defendants, particularly Defendant No. 2, the Secretary, Board of Secondary Education, who refused to rectify the mistake, thereby forcing the Plaintiff to file the suit. In the suit apart from impleading the State of Orissa as Defendant No. 1, the Board of Secondary Education has been impleaded as Defendant No. 2; the Headmaster of Khaira High School and Headmaster of Raghunarayana High School (former Raghunarayan M.E. School having become a High School/in the meantime) as Defendants 3 & 4 respectively.

(3.) THE trial Court found that there was no cause of action for the suit and the suit was barred by limitation in view of specific Regulation 39 in Chapter -X of their Regulations. It also disbelieved the case of the Plaintiff as to the correctness of the allegations made by the Plaintiff regarding his date of birth.