The Indian Express ·
Person can’t have two dates of birth in official records, says Delhi High Court
The Delhi High Court directed NIOS to correct a man’s date of birth in its records, holding that a genuine clerical error cannot create conflicting official records.
A person cannot be made to carry two different dates of birth in official records, the Delhi High Court recently said, and ordered the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) to correct a man’s birth date on his records and reissue his certificates. The court observed that failing to fix the typographical error would leave the petitioner with two different legal dates of birth, which would be “impractical and legally impermissible”.
Justice Jasmeet Singh was hearing a plea filed by a man who had filed a plea to get his date of birth corrected in the NIOS’s official records and get updated certificates. The school had rejected his request as it was made after the legal time limit.
“A person cannot be made to carry two different dates of birth in official records, and an educational authority cannot perpetuate an apparent factual error merely because the error remained uncorrected for a considerable period. The concern of administrative convenience is undoubtedly legitimate, but it cannot override the obligation of a statutory educational authority to maintain accurate public records, particularly where the correction sought is of a genuine clerical or factual error,” the September 16 order read.