Change of date of birth on service record cannot be claimed as a matter of right: Jammu and Kashmir High Court

The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh recently observed that a change of date of birth in service records cannot be claimed as matter of right by government employees [Ghulam Nabi Sofi V/s State of J&K and others]..Justice Vinod Chatterji Koul made the observation in a case where a government servant sought to change the date of birth mentioned in his service records from 1953 to 1958, after being in government employment for several years. He claimed that his illiterate parents had mistakenly put down a wrong date of birth, and that he got to know of the error only much later in life. The Court found that the service regulations that governed him did not allow for making a change in date of birth details on the service records after being in service for so many years. Additionally, the Court pointed out that such a change cannot be claimed as a matter of right. "It is now trite law on the subject that change of date of birth in service records cannot be claimed as a matter of right. It has also been held by the Supreme Court that a decision on the issue of date of birth is as important for the employer as it is for the employee," it observed. The Court added that it cannot grant any relief in such cases even if it is shown that the date of birth originally entered in the service records was incorrect as the candidate had given a wrong date of birth with a view that it would be to his advantage. .In the present case, the Court noted that the government employee had been in service since the early 70s but had sought a change in the date of birth details after around 20 years of service.The Court further noted that he was governed by the J&K Civil Services Regulations, 1956, which laid down any request for an alteration in birth details mentioned in service records have to be made within five years after entering government service. Rule 35- AA of the 1956 regulations stated that no alteration can be made after five years. It also laid down that the date of birth entered into the service records should generally remain unaltered except where there is a clerical error.“No alteration of date of birth of a Government servant shall be made by the Government (Administrative Department) unless a request in this regard is made by the concerned Government servant within a period of five years of his/ her entry into Government service and it is clearly established a genuine/bona fide mistake has occurred," the Court concluded. The Court added that an individual applying for a government job cannot claim ignorance of the credentials or testimonials submitted while applying for the job. In this case, the Court further noted that the government servant appeared to be seeking a change in date of birth only to extend his service tenure and gain additional benefits. Moreover, in this case, the High Court took note of a civil court's earlier observation that if the government servant's claim that he was actually born in 1958 were accepted, it would imply that he was only 12 years old when he qualified for the matriculation exam as his Discharge Certificate for Class 10 was issued in 1970. This was highly improbable, the civil court had opined. In view of these factors, the High Court proceeded to dismiss the plea. .Senior Advocate MY Bhat with Advocate Sajid Bhat appeared for the government employee (appellant).Advocate Mir Majid Bashir and Government Advocate Jahangir A Dar appeared for the Jammu and Kashmir government..[Read Order]