MAHABIR MANDAL Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner was employed in the Commercial Taxes Department of the Bihar Government and retired in the year 1975. Before his retirement, he had moved the State Government for revising his date of birth as recorded in the service record unsuccessfully. The prayer was rejected by the order as contained in Annexure

(2.) The present application under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution has been filed for quashing the same.

(3.) The date of birth of the petitioner in the school where he was initially admitted was mentioned as 1st February, 1917. He passed the matriculation examination in the year 1937 and the date of birth mentioned in-the certificate also shows 1st February, 1917. It is the petitioner's case that he comes from a very backward family where education was scarce and the petitioner did not know as to whether his correct date of birth was entered in the school register or the matriculation certificate. In the year 1973, he learnt for the first time from his father, who is still alive, that his correct date of birth was 1st February, 1919 and not 1st February, 1917 as was wrongly mentioned in the matriculation certificate. The petitioner relies upon an affidavit which is said to have been sworn by his father in the year 1938 stating that the petitioner was born on 1st February, 1919. A true copy of this affidavit, dated 16.5.1938 is annexed to this writ application as Annexure 3 Mr. Mukherjee appearing for the petitioner has contended that the Government was not right in rejecting the claim of the petitioner by the order as mentioned in Annexure 1 without assigning proper reasons therefor.