On the verge of retirement from service, the petitioner filed this writ petition with the following prayers:-
i. To issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ order or direction, directing the respondents to correct the date of birth of the petitioner as 20.1.1959 in his S.S.L.C book and his service records.
ii. Issue a writ of certiorari calling Ext.P3 and quash the same.
iii. Issue a writ of mandamus or any other writ order or direction, commanding the 1st respondent to allow the petitioner to continue in service till 31.01.2015.
2. At the very outset, it is to be noted that the petitioner has not stated the date of commencement of his service under the additional third respondent. At the same time, it is his case that two years prior to his retirement from its service, he submitted an application on 12.10.2010 before the Government seeking correction of his date of birth in the SSLC Book. The contention of the petitioner is that in the SSLC Book, his date of birth was wrongly entered as 14.6.1957 whereas his date of birth was correctly entered in the school admission records as 20.1.1959. According to the petitioner, he came to know about the mistake crept in the date of birth entry only when he received Exts.P1 and P4 in the year 2010 and immediately thereafter, he submitted an application for correction of date of birth in the SSLC book on 12.10.2010. It is the contention of the petitioner that the date of birth was wrongly entered in his SSLC Book on account of laches on the part of the persons who made the entry at the time of his readmission in the L.P.School, Thekketheri. Ext.P1 would reveal that while studying in the second standard, he was removed from the rolls of the school as early as on 31.1.1967 and subsequently, readmitted in the school on 29.5.1967. It is the contention of the petitioner that at the time of such readmission, his date of birth was wrongly entered in the admission register and that the said wrong entry in the admission register was carried over and it was duly entered in his SSLC Book as also in his service records. The contention of the petitioner is that Ext.P1 would reveal that the error in the entry of his date of birth must have been a clerical error. In this context, it is contended that Rule 3 in Chapter VI of the KER is totally inapplicable in the case of the petitioner. It is contended that a bare perusal of the said provision would reveal that it deals only with correction of date of birth entered in the admission register. As noticed hereinbefore, the date on which the petitioner entered into the service of the KSEB has not been stated in the writ petition. But at the same time, it is evident that he has submitted the application for correction of date of birth in the service records only at the fag end of his career. The petitioner seeks correction in the date of birth in his SSLC Book and consequential direction to the respondents to permit him to allow him to continue in service till 31.1.2015. In view of the settled position of law, such a belated request for correction of date of birth in the SSLC book and consequential relief of permission to continue in service cannot be entertained. (See the decisions in Union of India and others v. Mrs.Saroj Bala reported in AIR 1996 SC 1000 and in Baskaran v. State of Kerala reported in ILR 2000(1) Ker. 274 (DB)). It is also to be noted that even in case the petitioner gets his date of birth corrected in his SSLC book that would not make him entitled to get an automatic correction in the service records and to continue in service till such correction and thereafter, subject to such correction. There is no merit in this writ petition and this writ petition carrying such a belated claim is not liable to succeed. Accordingly, it is dismissed.
Sd/-
C.T. RAVIKUMAR (JUDGE) spc/ C.T. RAVIKUMAR, J.
JUDGMENT September, 2010