Birth date change: SC for irrefutable proof

In an important judgment,the Supreme Court has ruled that any correction in date of birth records relating to government employees on the eve of their superannuation or at the fag end of the career should be considered only on irrefutable evidence.

Deciding an appeal filed by the Madhya Pradesh government,which had challenged the state High Courts direction to change the date of birth of a police constable 25 years after his recruitment,the Bench of Justices D K Jain and A K Ganguly said: It needs to be emphasised that in matters involving correction of date of birth of a government servant,particularly on the eve of his superannuation or at the fag-end of his career,the court or the tribunal has to be circumspect,cautious and careful while issuing a direction for correction of date of birth recorded in the service book at the time of entry into any government service.

The Bench ruled,Unless the court or the tribunal is fully satisfied on the basis of the irrefutable proof relating to his date of birth and that such a claim is made in accordance with the procedure prescribed or as per the consistent procedure adopted by the department concerned,as the case may be,and a real injustice has been caused to the person concerned,the court or the tribunal should be loathe to issue a direction for correction of the service book .