T.K. Rajmohan vs State of Kerala

J. Chelameswar, C.J.—Aggrieved by a judgment dated 6th November, 2007 in W.P.(C) No. 32909 of 2007 the unsuccessful petitioner therein preferred the instant writ appeal.

The appellant initially joined the service of the State of Kerala as a Sub Inspector of Police. At the time of his entry into the service, his date of birth was entered in the service book as 15.5.1954. This entry is based on the entry made in the S.S.L.C. book. Sometime in the year 1992, the appellant made an application for correction of his date of birth in the S.S.L.C. book. According to him, the correct date of birth is 15.11.1955. The said application was accepted eventually by the authorities of the Education Department and his date of birth in the S.S.L.C. book was corrected by order dated 14.6.1999. Thereafter the appellant sought correction of the date of birth in his service book which was rejected by the Government on the ground that the application was not within the period stipulated by the relevant Rules. Aggrieved by such rejection the appellant herein filed the writ petition from which the instant appeal arises.

By the judgment under appeal, a learned Judge of this Court dismissed the writ petition. In dismissing the writ petition the learned Judge followed the earlier decisions of this Court. Even otherwise, it is well settled in law that correction of date of birth of the employees of the State cannot be granted long after their entry into the service.

In the circumstances, we do not see any reason to interfere with the judgment under appeal. The writ appeal is dismissed at the admission stage.