The Supreme Court Bench comprising Justice M.R. Shah and Justice A.S. Bopanna in the case titled Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Limited v. T.P. Natarajan dated 21-09-2021 comes across a very interesting issue that whether the change of date of birth in service records can be claimed as a right.
Facts of the Case:
Respondent was appointed with the appellant corporation in the year 1984. In the service record his date of birth was reflected as 04.01.1960 as per SSLC Marks Card. After the lapse of nearly 24 years, respondent no.1 requested for change of date of birth from 04.01.1960 to 24.01.1961. Thereafter, the respondent filed a suit for declaration that his date of birth is 24.01.1961. The said suit was dismissed by the Trial Court. The High Court allowed the appeal filed against the said order and decreed the suit.
Submission of the Appellant:
The Appellant has submitted that the respondent made the application for the first time vide notice dated 23.06.2007 i.e. after the lapse of 24 years since he joined the service and nearly after the lapse of 16 years from the date of adoption of enactment (Act, 1974) by the appellant – corporation. The Appellant has also submitted that the ignorance of the law cannot be an excuse.
Court’s observation and Judgment:
After listening to both the parties, the Apex Court has held that “the application of the respondent for change of date of birth was liable to be rejected on the ground of delay and laches and therefore as such respondent employee was not entitled to the decree of declaration and therefore the impugned judgment and order passed by the High Court is unsustainable and not tenable at law.”
Read Judgment
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