WP/17446/2009 of K.Bhupal Reddy Vs The Electronics Corporation of India Ltd., on 31 December 2013

Order:

The petitioner seeks for a Writ of mandamus todeclare the action of the 1[st] respondent-The ElectronicsCorporation of India Limited (ECIL, for short) in notcorrecting the date of birth of the petitioner as 25-7-1956in the service record of the petitioner as illegal and forconsequential direction to the respondents to incorporatethe correction in the service record of the petitioner.

2. The petitioner joined the 1[st] respondent as a helper on 06-01-1979. He produced a TransferCertificate issued by the Zilla Parishad High School,Raghunathapuram, showing his date of birth as 25-7-1954. The date of birth of the petitioner wasaccordingly entered in the service record as 25-7-1954. The petitioner subsequently procured S.S.C. Certificateshowing the date of birth as 25-7-1956. The petitionerclaims that he approached the 1[st] respondent in 1984 torectify his date of birth. However, the petitioner himselfclaims that in 1992, he submitted a representation to thePersonal Officer of the School to correct the date of birth inthe Transfer Certificate and that the date of birth wasrectified as 25-7-1956 in the subsequently issued TransferCertificate. He consequently submitted a representation in 1992 to the 1[st] respondent to rectifyhis date of birth. The petitioner contends that he wasunder the impression that his date of birth was rectified as25-7-1956 and that when the Identify Card was issuedshowing the date of birth of the petitioner as 25-7-1954, hequestioned the 1[st] respondent as to why his date of birthwas not rectified. He further claimed that at that point oftime, he was informed by the 1[st] respondent that hisrequest for change of date of birth had not been rectified.

3. The learned Standing Counsel for the

respondents contended that the Transfer Certificateproduced by the petitioner disclosed the date of birth ofthe petitioner as 25-7-1954. That apart, the AttestationForm also disclosed the date of birth of the petitioner as25-7-1954. He submitted that where the petitioner himselfclaimed that he was born in 1954, he cannotsubsequently turn round and claim that he was born in1956 and seek for the rectification of the same in theservice record.

4. The learned Standing Counsel for the respondentsfurther submitted that on 06-8-1992, the petitioner appliedto the 1[st] respondent for rectification of his date of birth,which was more than 13 years after the petitioner joined inservice. Admittedly, the Rules governing the petitionerenvisage that the date of birth rectification can be effectedsubject to the condition that such a request is made within5 years from the date of joining in service according toRule 15 of the ECIL Service Rules. He submitted that therequest of the petitioner was turned down and that thesame was communicated to him on 17-10-1992 and thatthe present writ petition in 2009 is belated and is notmaintainable.

5. It is the case of the petitioner that his date of birth is25-7-1956 and that the same is shown in his S.S.C.Certificate. However, in his application to the petitioner,the petitioner described that he was born on 25-7-1954 in accordance with the entry as found in the TransferCertificate. It is not as though the petitioner was not awareabout his correct date of birth and has come to know ofthe same later. The petitioner entered his date of birth inthe application in terms of the Transfer Certificate. If theTransfer Certificate bore incorrect date of birth, in theapplication, the petitioner would have mentioned thecorrect date of birth as

25-7-1956. He would have at least attempted to get theincorrect entry in column No.6 of the Transfer Certificaterectified regarding his date of birth. The petitioner has notchosen to do so before he submitted his application foremployment. Added to it, the petitioner furnishedAttestation Form when he was selected as a helper.

In column No.7, in unequivocal terms, the petitioner statedthat he was born on 25-7-1954 and that he was 24 yearsold. He further added that he was 19 years old at the timeof Matriculation/S.S.C. In this background, the question iswhether the petitioner can seek for the rectification of hisdate of birth in the service record.

6. As already noticed, Rule 15 of the ECIL ServiceRules envisages that the request for change of date ofbirth can be made within 5 years of the employee intoservice. There is no clause that the 5 years period shallreckon from the date of knowledge about the entry in theservice record or about the correct date of birth.

Thus, the Rule is absolute that the request shall comeforward from the employee within 5 years from the date ofjoining in service.

7. The petitioner, inter alia, contended that he madea representation for the change of date of birth in 1984. Such a request is not found. Even otherwise by 05-01-1984 itself, 5 years had elapsed from the date onwhich the petitioner joined in service which was on 06-01-1979. What is recorded is that the petitionersubmitted an application on 06-8-1992, which wasrejected through orders dated 12-10-1992. When theapplication was submitted in 1992, more than 13 yearshave elapsed from the date of his joining in service. Consequently, the request for change of date of birth wasin violation of Rule 15 of the ECIL Service Rules.

The petitioner consequently is not entitled to seek for therectification of date of birth more than 5 years after thedate of his joining in service. In similar circumstances, it was held in Yarlagadda Padmavathi v. Director of School Education[[1]]that mandamus cannot be issuedagainst the Rules.

8. In the present case, the Rules envisage that thechange of date of birth can be within 5 years from the date of joining in service. The petitionercannot ask for the rectification at any time after completion of the 5 years of service. Consequently, the request ofthe petitioner is liable to be rejected. I therefore see no merits in this writ petition.

9. This writ petition accordingly is found to be devoidof merits and is dismissed. No costs.

31[st] December, 2013.Ak

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Dr. K.G.SHANKAR, J.

[1]2005 (5) ALT 23

31[st] December, 2013.(Ak)