Cop’s plea against early retirement over date of birth rejected

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has rejected a petition filed by a retired senior police sub-inspector. He had alleged that the state government had wrongly registered his date of birth, as a result of which he retired prematurely by a year. While rejecting the petition, the HC held that the petitioner must have rectified his date of birth within five years of joining service.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice V.K. Tahilramani and Justice M.L. Karnik was hearing a petition filed by Parshuram Kondiba Shinde, who had joined the police force in 1971 as a constable. In the service book of the petitioner his date of birth recorded as September 16, 1948. The petitioner argued that in 1981 he was promoted to the post of police sub-inspector and he had submitted an application to the state seeking changes in the record, stating that his date of birth is September 14, 1949. However, the petitioner stated that no formal order was passed on his application by the authorities.

The court relied on a Supreme court judgement, which stated that a government servant cannot make a request for correction of the date of birth after a lapse of a long time. The SC order had also stated, “no court or the tribunal can come to the aid of those who sleep over their rights”. Hence, the plea was rejected.