The Patna High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a Home Guard volunteer challenging his superannuation date on the ground that his age at the time of selection had been wrongly recorded. The petitioner argued that his matriculation certificate showed a later date of birth and that he should not have been forced to retire one year early. The Court, speaking through Hon’ble Mr. Justice Harish Kumar, declined to interfere and reiterated settled Supreme Court law that requests to change date of birth at the fag end of service are generally not entertained, particularly when the foundational service record shows otherwise.
In simple terms, the Court said: if your service records, created at the start of your engagement, show your age/DoB in a certain manner and you never questioned it for decades, you cannot come to the Court close to retirement seeking to rewrite that record based on a later-produced academic certificate. This is especially so for personnel like Home Guard volunteers whose service terms rely heavily on a nomination register maintained in due course of official business. The Court noted that the petitioner’s age was recorded as “19 years” at the time of selection, and that became the basis for computing his length of service and superannuation.
The petitioner had been appointed in 1979 as a Home Guard (No. 3669) and later produced his matriculation certificate reflecting his date of birth as 24.12.1961; he said this was also supported by Aadhar and other certificates. He made representations to the Director General, Bihar Home Guards, and the District Magistrate, Siwan, seeking correction, but he was nonetheless made to retire on 01.01.2020.
On the State’s side, it was submitted that the nomination register maintained in the office of the District Commandant (respondent No. 4) recorded the petitioner’s age as 19 at the time of selection. Such entries, made in the regular course of administration, are binding and had never been questioned throughout the petitioner’s service career; the writ petition after retirement was therefore belated. The State also cited an earlier Patna High Court matter (CWJC No. 2507 of 2006) where primacy was accorded to the nomination register.
After hearing both sides, the Patna High Court held that a change in the date of birth or in the foundational nomination register based on a matriculation certificate obtained long after initial engagement—indeed after about 40 years—cannot be permitted in the facts of this case. The Court therefore dismissed the writ petition.
The judgment heavily relies on the Supreme Court’s repeated caution that courts should be slow to accept service-ending date-of-birth corrections made at the eleventh hour. The High Court extracted and followed binding observations from (i) State of T.N. v. T.V. Venugopalan (1994) 6 SCC 302; (ii) Secretary & Commissioner, Home Department v. R. Kirubakaran 1994 Supp (1) SCC 155; (iii) State of Uttaranchal v. Pitamber Dutt Semwal (2005) 11 SCC 477; and (iv) Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. v. T.P. Nataraja (2021) 12 SCC 27.
Significance or Implication of the Judgment (For general public or government)
This ruling clarifies, once again, that foundational service records—like a nomination register for Home Guards—carry strong evidentiary value. For government departments, it underscores the importance of maintaining contemporaneous registers and the protection those records receive in court when challenged after long delay. For personnel and the general public, the message is straightforward: any dispute with the age/date-of-birth entry in service records must be raised promptly, not at the end of service. If you wait until retirement approaches, the courts will typically decline relief on grounds of delay, laches, and settled precedents discouraging last-minute changes that can disrupt workforce planning and create scope for manipulation.
The decision also provides administrative certainty. It protects the integrity of retirement calendars and minimizes litigation that often arises near superannuation dates. The Court’s adherence to Supreme Court guidance ensures uniformity across similar disputes: a late-stage attempt to alter the date of birth—even supported by seemingly cogent documents—will not automatically succeed. It must comply with the applicable rules, be made in time, and overcome a high threshold, which is rarely met in such delayed claims.
Legal Issue(s) Decided and the Court’s Decision with reasoning
- Whether a Home Guard volunteer can, near or after superannuation, seek correction of age/date-of-birth recorded at the time of selection by relying on a later-produced matriculation certificate and other documents.
— Decision: No. The Court refused to alter foundational service entries (age shown as 19 at selection) at such a late stage. It held that the nomination register entry, made in the ordinary course, is binding; a change after about 40 years is impermissible. The writ petition was dismissed. Reasoning: Delay and laches; primacy of contemporaneous service records; binding Supreme Court precedent against last-minute DoB corrections. - Whether pendency of a representation seeking correction obliges the Court to direct reconsideration at the fag end.
— Decision: No. Mere pendency of representation did not justify interference when the basic service record consistently recorded age and the challenge was inordinately delayed.
Judgments Relied Upon or Cited by Court
- State of T.N. v. T.V. Venugopalan, (1994) 6 SCC 302 — discouraging DoB correction at the fag end of service.
- Secretary & Commissioner, Home Dept. v. R. Kirubakaran, 1994 Supp (1) SCC 155 — courts must be extra cautious when DoB alteration is sought near superannuation.
- State of Uttaranchal v. Pitamber Dutt Semwal, (2005) 11 SCC 477 — relief denied where correction was sought after ~30 years of service.
- Karnataka Rural Infrastructure Development Ltd. v. T.P. Nataraja, (2021) 12 SCC 27 — summary of law: (i) follow applicable regulations; (ii) even cogent evidence is not a matter of right; (iii) delay/laches is a valid ground to reject, especially at the fag end.
Case Title
Raja Ram v. State of Bihar & Ors.
Case Number
Civil Writ Jurisdiction Case No. 1474 of 2021
Citation(s)
2025 (2) PLJR 206
Coram and Names of Judges
Hon’ble Mr. Justice Harish Kumar
Names of Advocates and who they appeared for
- For the petitioner: Mr. Shyamakant Singh, Advocate
- For the State: Mr. Harun Quarishi, Advocate
Link to Judgment
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