- (1.) THE short question which arises for consideration of this court in this writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, is as to what should be the authentic proof for determining the correct date of birth of an employee : of the State Government or of any corporate body functioning on behalf of the State Government which should be a relevant factor of an employee at the time of his appointment. The date of retirement on attaining the age of super- ] annuation by an employee is also to be reckoned from that date.
(2.) THE petitioner who is an erstwhile employee of Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation, has filed this petition on the ground interalia that the petitioner initially joined the service of the State Government on the post of Lower Division Clerk (for short 'ldc') in Village Panchayat Department vide order, dated; August 10, 1953 and was posted in their Divisional Office at Kota. In continuation of the said appointment and while discharging his duties as substantive Upper Division Clerk (for short 'udc') in the erstwhile Roadways Department, the State Government placed the services of the petitioner on deputation to the respondents w. e. f. October 1, 1964 and these arrangements continued till October 30, 1966. It has further been contended that during the intervening period of deputation the State Government vide its Notification dated April 15, 1966 invited option from the petitioner either to remain in Government service of the State or to continue to serve the Corporation as he may deem fit. The petitioner in pursuance of the option notice with reference to para 4 of the terms and conditions of the option, and with particular reference to Regulation 7 (a) of the R. S. R. T. C. Regulations, 1965, submitted his option within the stipulated period exercising his option in favour of continuity of his services with the Corporation. Consequently the State Government vide its order, dated June 30, 1966 transferred the services of the petitioner to the said Corporation and the Corporation vide its letter, dated July 15, 1967 also accepted the said transfer with a specific mention that the services of the petitioner henceforth will he governed by R. S. R. T. C. Employees Service Regulations, 1965 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Regulations') which came into force w. e. f. August 15, 1965. Consequently the-services of the peti- ; tioner in the State Government were brought to an end w. e. f. October 30, 1966.
(3.) IT will be pertinent to refer to Regulation 7of the Regulations which reads as under: "7. Unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context the terms defined in this chapter are used in the Regulations in the sense here explained:- (1) Age- (a) For the purposes of these Regulations age shall be computed from the date of birth of an employee, who shall be required to produce authentic proof thereof at the time of his employment or within three months from the date of his employment. (b) The following proofs may be accepted as authentic date of birth in order of prefer-ence:- (i) date of birth given in the School Certificate. (ii) date of birth given in the Municipal Birth Certificate. (iii) date of birth given in the horoscope provided it was prepared soon after the date of birth stated by the employees. (c) If an employee is unable to state his exact date of birth but can state the year, or year and the month of birth, July 1, or the 16th day of the month respectively may be treated as the date of birth. (d) If an employee is unable to state even the year of birth, a certificate from a Medical Officer approved by the Corporation specifying the approximate year may be accepted for the purposes of computing age. (e) When an employee is required to retire on attaining a specified age the day on which he attains that age is reckoned as non- working day, and he must retire with effect from and including that day. ";