DHANESHWAR BARHI Vs. EASTERN COALFIELDS LTD. AND ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard learned counsel for the parties.

(2.) The grievance of the petitioner herein is that he is to retire w.e.f. 01.07.2015 on incorrect assessment of his date of birth i.e. 01.07.1955, though as per the School Leaving Certificate, Annexure-1, issued by the Principal of the Middle School Munger on 12.02.1971, his date of birth is shown as 16.01.1959. Such request for correction of date of birth in his service records has been declined by the impugned letter dated 23.07.2013, Annexure-4. Implementation Instruction No. 76 which is agreed mode for determination of age of the employee entering coal company provides at para(A)(ii) that in the case of appointees who have pursued studies in a recognized educational institution, the date of birth recorded in the School Leaving Certificate, shall be treated as correct date of birth and the same will not be altered under any circumstances. Despite such laid down procedure, the respondents have not ventured to make correction of his date of birth entry or referred the matter to the Apex Medical Board, if there is any dispute about his age. Representations have been consistently made before the respondent earlier which they have failed to respond and only the last representation made on 30.04.2013 has been considered by them to refuse such correction on the ground that purported age dispute was raised at the fag end of the service.

(3.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the Implementation Instruction No. 76 provides the course to carry out such correction. He has relied upon the decision of the Full Bench of this Court in the case of Kamta Pandey Vs. M/s. BCCL through its Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Koyla Bhawan, Koyla Nagar, Dhanbad & Ors., 2007 3 JLJR 726, which categorically held that though the employee will not normally be permitted to apply for change of his date of birth at the fag end of his service career, but if the Court is fully satisfied that there has been real injustice to the person concerned and his claim for correction of date of birth has been made in accordance with the procedure prescribed and when a clear case relating to the date of birth is made out on the basis of clinching materials, then necessary direction to make a declaration of the said date of birth can be given. He has also relied upon the judgment rendered by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of M/s. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. & Ors. Vs. Chhota Birsa Uranw,2014 3 JBCJ 28 in support of his submission that in the said case, the Hon'ble Supreme Court was pleased to uphold the judgment rendered by the learned Single Bench and the Learned Division Bench of this Court, which directed the same appellant company to conduct an enquiry on the basis of the certificates produced by the employee and to take a decision within stipulated period on the question of his date of birth as he was being made to retire prematurely. Therefore, ends of justice requires that reconsideration be made and the respondent should undertake an exercise for such correction of date of birth as per the procedure laid down in terms of Implementation Instructions No. 76.