A Mismatch In Her Certificates Was Not A Fraud On Her Employer

How two dates of birth came about

The appellant was engaged as a Panchayat Shiksha Mitra in February 2003, later absorbed as a Panchayat Teacher, and became a trained teacher. Not yet having her matriculation certificate, she had produced her mark-sheet and school leaving certificate, which gave her date of birth as 10 September 1984.

In 2015 she obtained a duplicate matriculation certificate, which gave the date as 10 September 1986. On that date she would have been about 16 and a half when selected — below the minimum age of 18. She tried to have the certificate corrected, without success.

After a complaint in 2019, her salary was stopped in December 2021 and her services were terminated in August 2022 on the footing that she had altered her date of birth. The State Appellate Authority and a Single Judge upheld the termination.

Why the Division Bench disagreed

The contemporaneous school records — the admission register and the school leaving certificate — recorded 1984, so the possibility of a mistake in the matriculation certificate could not be ruled out. There was no allegation of tampering with the school leaving certificate, and the Board did not call the matriculation certificate forged either.

This was a bona fide dispute, not a case of employment obtained by fraud. The rule in R. Vishwanathan Pillai, which denies Article 311 protection to those appointed on forged documents, did not apply. The State Appellate Authority had not even gone into the question of the two dates.

Being appointed at about 16 and a half would at best be a mere irregularity. It was incumbent on the appointing authority to verify her certificates in 2003, and having not done so, it could not take punitive action at a belated stage, more than 19 years later, for no fault of hers.

The result, and its limit

The termination order of August 2022 and the State Appellate Authority's order of November 2022 were held illegal and perverse and quashed, and the Single Judge's order was set aside. The Court said she would be entitled to back wages for the period she has worked.

But the Court clarified that, since her appointment rests on a certificate showing 1986, she cannot take the benefit of the 1984 date. Following the Full Bench in Rajiawa Narayan Mishra and the decision in Birendra Kumar, a person who entered service before 18 must superannuate on completing a maximum of 42 years of service, even before reaching 60.

Who argued it

Frequently asked

Can I be dismissed years later because my certificates show different birth dates?

Not where there is a bona fide dispute and no forgery. Here termination after 19 years was quashed.

What if I was under 18 when I was appointed?

The Court called it at best a mere irregularity, but service is then capped at 42 years.

Answering a date-of-birth termination

1. Collect the contemporaneous school records — admission register, leaving certificate — before the later certificate.
2. Show what you produced at appointment and that nothing on it was altered.
3. Distinguish forgery cases; an employer's failure to verify is not the employee's fraud.
4. Expect the 42-year cap if the later date shows you joined before 18.

Source. High Court of Judicature at Patna, L.P.A. No. 1104 of 2023, decided 9 September 2026 by Justice MR. JUSTICE MOHIT KUMAR SHAH, Justice MR. JUSTICE SOURENDRA PANDEY. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.

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