IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.3103 of 2009 Musafir Choudhary, Son of Late Jethu Choudhary, resident of village- Kalibigha, P.S.-Giriyak, District-Nalanda. -Petitioner. VERSUS 1. The State of Bihar through the Secretary, Energy Department, Bihar, Patna. 2. Bihar State Electricity Board, through its Secretary, Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna. 3. Chairman, Bihar State Electricity Board, Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna. 4. The Secretary, Bihar State Electricity Board, Vidyut Bhawan, Bailey Road, Patna. 5. General Manager-cum-Chief Engineer, Central Electric Supply Area, Serpentine Road, Patna. 6. Electrical Supply Engineer, Electric Supply Circle, R. Block, Patna. 7. Bihar School Examination Board, through its Secretary, Sinha Library Road, Bihar, Patna. 8. Chairman, Bihar School Examination Board, Sinha Library Road, Bihar, Patna. 9. Secretary, Bihar School Examination Board, Sinha Library Road, Bihar, Patna. -Respondents. ----------- For the Petitioner : Mr. Tej Bahadur Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Manish Kumar & Mr. Gyan Shanker. For the B.S.E.B. : Mr. A.B. Sinha. For the Electricity Board : Mr. Vinay Kirti Singh. ------------- 04 04.09.2009 The petitioner was in service of the Bihar State Electricity Board and as per the death of birth recorded in the service book was to superannuate on 28th February, 2009. His date of birth recorded was 01.03.1949, which was the date of birth as recorded in the certificate issued by the Bihar School Examination Board. The said certificate is Annexure-1. The petitioner’s grievance is that with great difficulty and battle of over 20 years he managed to get the certificate corrected from the Bihar School Examination Board and no sooner he produced it before the Electricity Board to get his superannuation, acting ex parte the Bihar School Examination Board cancelled the change as made by - 2 - it. Facts are not in controversy. The Bihar School Examination Board and the Bihar State Electricity Board filed their respective counter affidavit and with consent of parties the writ petition is being disposed of at the stage of admission itself. It is not in dispute that in April 1967 petitioner passed his matriculation examination conduced by the Bihar School Examination Board. The certificate issued showed his date of birth as 01.03.1949. The certificate was issued in 1969. Immediately on 05.05.1970 applications were made for correction of date of birth. It was stated by the petitioner that the date of birth is in fact 01.03.1953 and not 01.03.1949. The matter was kept pending in 1993 vide Annexure-5. The Bihar School Examination Board sent enquiries to petitioner’s school for production of original records for verifying the claim of the petitioner. Again nothing happened. The Bihar School Examination Board then resolved in 1999 that persons could made application on payment of Rs.250/- for necessary changes in various particulars of the certificate. Petitioner paid the said amount of Rs.250/- by Union Bank of India demand draft dated 28.01.1999 and sought for change. Again in 2001, the Bihar School Examination Board sought original records from petitioner’s school. Repeatedly, the Board kept asking for original records but they were not being sent. Ultimately, on 23.01.2009, the concerned Headmaster sent original records, then transfer certificate guard file was sent as earlier itself. The admission register had already been sent to the Bihar School Examination Board in the year 2005. The - 3 - matter was then considered by the Bihar School Examination Board by the Chairman itself. The Chairman himself having got the matter enquired into and passed order for correction of date of birth of petitioner. Petitioner on an application being filed was accordingly supplied corrected certificate showing his date of birth as 01.03.1953. On 21.02.2009, he accordingly filed the same before the authorities of the Bihar State Electricity Board. The authorities of the Electricity Board sent the same for verification to the Bihar School Examination Board. In response thereto, on 25.02.2009 Bihar School Examination Board informs the Bihar State Electricity Board that the duplicate certificate issued is genuine and correct. But, then suddenly on 01.03.2009 they published a notice in the newspaper cancelling the duplicate corrected copy of the certificate as issued to the petitioner ex parte. Petitioner has challenged this action. In the counter affidavit filed by the Bihar State Electricity Board the only objection that is taken is that the petitioner joined the service of the Board in the year 1978 and gave his date of birth as 01.03.1949. Now, in the last month before superannuation he is giving application for correction of date of birth. Bihar School Examination Board has also filed a counter affidavit. It has not denied that right from 1970 petitioner has been moving before the Board for correction. It is not denied that the Chairman of the Board himself got the matter enquired into and ordered for correction after going through the original records of the school as submitted. The only justification that has been given for recall of all these actions is that in the year 2006 a policy - 4 - decision was taken that correction must be applied within 10 years of the issuance of certificate and no correction would be entertained thereafter. But, it is not disputed that petitioner’s first application was made for correction in 1970 itself, in respect of the certificate that was issued in 1967. In my view, Bihar School Examination Board cannot take such a plea. Firstly, the application for correction was made within 3 years, long before petitioner sought employment. Secondly, a policy decision taken in the year 2006 would apply prospectively and two applications that were pending. Petitioner’s repeated efforts were then 1970 onwards which remain undisputed. The 2006 policy could not deprive the petitioner of his right to get his certificate corrected. Lastly, the Board does not dispute the certificate, as issued, was in fact correct. It accepts that records were called for examination and the records showed otherwise. Thus, in my view, the correction was due more than 30 years back petitioner cannot be blamed for delay on the part of the Bihar School Examination Board to make the correction. In that view of the matter, I have no option but to allow the writ petition and direct that the necessary changes have to be made in the service records of the petitioner on the basis of the corrected certificate, consequently relief be granted to the petitioner in that regard. Accordingly, Annexure-21, the press communiqué of the Bihar School Examination Board, is quashed. The writ petition is allowed. Trivedi/ (Navaniti Prasad Singh, J.)