The Madras High Court has directed the government to pay the monetory benefits due to a person who lost 3-1/2 years of service because of illegal alteration of his date of birth.
The date of birth of TV Anbalagan as per the birth certificate was December 31, 1946. The date was the same in his school transfer certificate. He was appointed Rural Medical Officer on September 19, 1975. He was made to retire on July 31, 2000 instead of the actual retirement date of December 31, 2004. This was because his date of birth in the service register had been surreptitiously altered as July 4, 1942. The alteration came to his knowledge when he obtained the salary certificate for a bank loan. He filed a suit for a declaration that the fabrication of the date was illegal and for a mandatory injunction to restore his date of birth in service records as December 31, 1946.
Additional District Munsif Mayiladuthurai, dismissed Anbalagan’s suit. However, his appeal was allowed by the Additional Sub-Court, Mayiladuthurai, in June 2003. Hence, the present second appeal by the government.
Dismissing the appeal, Justice S Vimala said by comparing the date of birth with the date of entry into service, it was evident that there was no compulsion for Anbalagan to show a higher age for satisfying any minimum requirement with regard to age.
The authorities were answerable for all the direct consequences suffered by the individual on account of the illegal alteration, she said.
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