M/S Bharat Coking Coal Ltd.& Ors vs Chhota Birsa Uranw

3. The brief facts leading to the same are as under :

(‘BCCL’), a ‘Government Company’ as under Section 617 of the Companies Act, 1956, his date of joining as per the impugned order is stated to be March 31, 1973. At the time of joining, his date of birth was recorded as February 15, 1947, in Form ‘B’, a statutory form stipulated under the Mines Rules, 1955, the basis of recording the same is not clear. The respondent obtained a Secondary School Leaving Certificate issued on October 12, 1979, which indicated that he attended Rajya Samposhit Uchcha Vidyalaya, Baghmara, a Government school in Dhanbad from January, 1964 to August, 1964. In the said certificate, the date of birth of the respondent is recorded as February 6, 1950, which is in conflict with his date of birth as entered by him in the service records being the aforementioned Form ‘B’.

2. Subsequently, in 1983, he was transferred to the Jamunia Open Cast Project and as stated, he once again signed the Form ‘B’ wherein his date of birth was recorded as February 15, 1947 and he allegedly did not raise any objections then.

5. The Project Officer vide order dated August 2, 2006 intimated the respondent that he is to superannuate from February 28, 2007. Aggrieved by the same, the respondent filed a writ bearing W.P. (S) No. 496 of 2007 for quashing of the order of superannuation by the Project Officer on the grounds that the date of superannuation has been incorrectly calculated by relying on the erroneous date of birth which should have been rectified in terms of the NCWA III, which provided that the Mining Sardar Certificate and the School Leaving Certificate must be treated as authentic documents by the employer as proof of the date of birth of the employee. The appellant company without challenging the genuineness of the same countered the respondent on the grounds that the Form ‘B’ register was a conclusive proof of date of birth as it was verified by the signature of the employee being the respondent; and having accepted the entry then, the respondent is not entitled to raise any dispute after twenty years and at the fag end of his service. The High Court while allowing the writ determined that the respondent did not raise such a claim at the fag end of his career, rather such a claim was made in 1987 itself and the appellant company had failed to respond suitably to the dispute raised by the respondent. Thereby, the Court directed the appellant company to conduct an enquiry on the basis of the certificates produced by the respondent and to effectively communicate to the respondent the decision taken together with the reasons assigned within three months of the passing of the order.

6. Aggrieved, the appellant company preferred a Letters Patent Appeal, the order in which is impugned herein. The High Court dismissed the appeal having found no merit in the same in light of the clauses in Implementation Instruction No. 76.

4. The appellant in the present appeal has come before us seeking that the impugned judgment be set aside. The case of the appellant is, firstly, when a school leaving certificate is not a document mentioned in Implementation Instruction No. 76, the High Court was incorrect in substituting the same with the documents given in the said Instruction, thereby creating a situation which supersedes all other statutory documents like Form ‘B’ register. Secondly, the High Court should have considered that the date of birth recorded in Form ‘B’ register being a statutory document under Mines Act is binding and cannot be preceded by a non-statutory document and therefore, the inter alia holding of the High Court that School Leaving Certificate and Mining Sardar Certificate would take precedence over company records and other statutory documents is contrary to the judgment of this Court in G.M. Bharat Coking Coal Ltd., West Bengal vs. Shib Kumar Dushad and Ors.[1]. Thirdly, the appellant has challenged the exercise of jurisdiction by the High Court under Article 226 considering that the respondent as workman could avail efficacious remedy from the forum under the Industrial Disputes Act and the respondent could raise such a dispute at the fag end of his career de hors the judgment in Bharat Coking Coal Ltd. vs. Presiding Officer and Anr[2]. Fourthly, that the documents on which the respondent has relied being School Leaving Certificate and Mining Sardar Certificate are not those mentioned in Implementation Instruction No. 76 for review of determination of date of birth with respect to existing employees and that the implementation of the impugned order would give way to many unscrupulous employees to procure such documents and take advantage of the same. Fifthly, the respondent while signing the Form ‘B’ register at the time of appointment had verified his date of birth as February 15, 1947 on his joining on January 1, 1973 and later on his transfer in 1983; since he is a supervisory staff capable of reading and writing and understanding English his verification amounts to acceptance and his raising of dispute in 1987, fourteen years after is incorrect. Sixthly, the appellant has challenged the reliance placed on the School Leaving Certificate by the respondent on the grounds that the same was issued on October 12, 1979 six years after his appointment and as the Mining Sardar Certificate was based on the same reliance on it is also doubtful; furthermore, since both the documents were issued after the date of employment they cannot form basis of correction of date of birth; furthermore, the appellant has challenged the correctness of the School Leaving Certificate on the grounds that the alleged Certificate was not verified by the District Education Commissioner; that the attendance register for relevant period when the respondent allegedly attended school was not available and the verification was with respect to one Sri Birsa Prasad Uranw; it is further submitted that these discrepancies which were covered by legal inspector of company (who was duly charge- sheeted) in collusion with the respondent make the school leaving certificate dubious. Finally, it was submitted that the respondent has raised the issue at the fag end by means of a belated writ i.e. thirty years after appointment and after twenty years (as claimed by him) of his knowledge.

15. Therefore, the order of the High Court does not call for any interference. We endorse the reasoning given by the High Court and affirm the same.

16. In these circumstances, we do not find any merit in the appeal. Accordingly, this appeal is dismissed.

…....……………………..J. (Gyan Sudha Misra) New Delhi;