D. K. SETH, J. After the amendment is allowed, Mr. K. R. Singh, learned Stand ing Counsel submits that he is not re quired to file any counter-affidavit in respect of the amended pleading and the writ petition can be disposed of on the basis of the material before the Court to which Mr. W. H. Khan learned Counsel for the petitioner has no objection. By con sent of the parties, the matter was taken up for hearing. Both the learned Counsel had addressed the Court on the merits. 2. The petitioner contends that he was asked to retire on 30th June, 1996 by a notice dated 12th November, 1997 (An-nexure 4), on the basis of his date of birth as 1st July, 1940 recorded in his service book. Petitioner alleges that he had passed Junior High School Examination in 1957 and High School Examination in 1959. The date of birth of the pettier has been recorded as 15th July, 1943 in the certifi cate of High School Examination. There fore, he had made an application on 14th November, 1997 for correction of the date of birth recorded in his service record, but the same has not been accepted. Hence this writ petition. 3. Mr. W. H. Khan, learned Counsel for the petitioner contends that the date of birth had been corrected sometimes in 1999 which is apparent from the Identity Card issued to the petitioner where the date of birth has been recorded as 15th July, 1943. Therefore, the respondents cannot ask the petitioner to retire on the date of birth as 1st July, 1940. 4. But the said contention does not appear to be acceptable. Since on the basis of Annexurc 5 to the writ petition, it ap pears that the petitioner had applied for correction of the date of birth from 1st July, 1940 of 15th July, 1943 by means of an application dated 14th November, 1997. If the dale of birth has been corrected in 1990, in that event, there was no necessity for applying for correction of the date of birth on 14th November, 1997. 5. Mr. W. H. Khan then contends that the dale of birth appearing in the High School certificate should be recorded in the service book by reason of Rule 2 of the Uttar Pradesh Recruitment to Services (Determination of Date of Birth) Rules, 1974. 5. Mr. W. H. Khan then contends that the dale of birth appearing in the High School certificate should be recorded in the service book by reason of Rule 2 of the Uttar Pradesh Recruitment to Services (Determination of Date of Birth) Rules, 1974. He contends that since the date of birth recorded in the service book is 1st July, 1940, therefore, the service record should have been corrected in pursuance to his application dated 14th November, 1997 and he cannot be asked to retire on the basis of his date of birth as on 1st July, 1940. Therefore, the writ petition should be allowed and the petitioner should be allowed to continue till the date of super annuation on the basis of the date of birth as on 15th July, 1943. 6. Mr. K. R. Singh, learned Standing Counsel, on the other hand, contends that the petitioner has approached for the first time only on 14th November, 1997 for correction of the date of birth on the basis of the High School certificate. According to him, the petitioner did not produce High School certificate at the time of entry into the service on 24th June, 1961. On the other hand, on the basis of the date of birth given in his application as 1st July, 1940 it was so recorded in the service book after verifying through the Civil Surgeon, who had reported his approximate date of birth as 19 years as is apparent from Annexure CA-1. He further contended that had the petitioner produced the certificate, in that event he would have been declared dis qualified to join the services since he would not have been completed is years of age on the basis of the date of birth recorded in the certificate record at the time of recruitment. If he himself sup pressed the same and obtained undue ad vantage on the basis of the date of birth declared by him self, the petitioner cannot be allowed to take advantage of his own wrong. According to him, the petitioner had allowed the date of birth as recorded in the service record to continue for long 37 years and had never disclosed the exist ence of the High School certificate till he applied for correction. Therefore, the writ petition should be dismissed. 7. Mr. According to him, the petitioner had allowed the date of birth as recorded in the service record to continue for long 37 years and had never disclosed the exist ence of the High School certificate till he applied for correction. Therefore, the writ petition should be dismissed. 7. Mr. W. H. Khan, replying to the contention, contended that even if the case of the respondents are accepted, in that event the petitioners date of birth should be recorded on the basis of the report of the Civil Surgeon as 19 years at the time of entry into the service record which then would be as in 1942. 8. I have heard both the learned Counsel at length. 9. So far as the report of the Civil Surgeon, Annexure CA-1 is concerned, it is only a report verifying the age stating that he was approximately 19 years. It can be one year less or more. The petitioner himself had signed the service record and accepted the date of birth as 1st July, 1940 and did not disclose the certificate at the time of entry into the service. He had neither produced the certificate nor dis closed it until 14th November, 1997. It is alleged that the petitioner himself had given his date of birth as 1st July, 1940 in his application on the basis whereof the same was recorded in the service book which was endorsed by him not only by putting his signature but also by putting his thumb impression. If it is accepted that the petitioner had passed his High School Examination, in that event he was ex pected to be capable of reading and of appreciating the meaning of recording of date of birth in the service record. Admit tedly, petitioner had put in 37 years of service. During the course of his service, he had never attempted to get the date of birth corrected nor had asserted that his date of birth was incorrectly recorded in the service record. Therefore, the petitioner cannot rely upon the report of the Civil Surgeon declaring his age ap proximately 19 years at the time of entry into service. For purposes of correction of his date of birth, the date of birth cannot be corrected on the basis of the report of the Civil Surgeon. Therefore, the petitioner cannot rely upon the report of the Civil Surgeon declaring his age ap proximately 19 years at the time of entry into service. For purposes of correction of his date of birth, the date of birth cannot be corrected on the basis of the report of the Civil Surgeon. In view of the Uttar Pradesh Recruitment to services (Deter mination of Date of Birth) Rules, 1974 which specifically provided that such alteration can be made only on the basis of the High School Certificate or equivalent examination. The report of the Civil Sur geon cannot be equated with the High School or equivalent examination. 10. In case the date of birth recorded in the High School Examination is to be accepted then the petitioner would not have completed 18 years of age at the time of recruitment. The petitioner had joined on 24th May, 1961 after having taken part in the selection which might have been started at least few months earlier. There fore, it seems that there are force in the submission that the petitioner had sup pressed the certificate in order to avoid that the petitioner was below 18 years at the time of entry in service which was a disqualification. By suppressing such certificate, the petitioner had obtained the advantage of joining the service though according to the certificate he was below 18 years of age and was dis qualified. After having obtained such an advantage through wrong process, the petitioner cannot take advantage of it and is stopped. The Court cannot come in way of such person to help him when he comes out with the case of correction of age two days after the notice was is sued to him that he would be retiring on 30th June, 1998 by means of the notice dated 12th November, 1997. Inasmuch as he had applied for the first time for the correction of age on 14th November, 1997. 11. Mr. K. R. Singh, learned Standing Counsel had relied upon heavily on Rule 2 of the Rules which provides as follows: 2. Inasmuch as he had applied for the first time for the correction of age on 14th November, 1997. 11. Mr. K. R. Singh, learned Standing Counsel had relied upon heavily on Rule 2 of the Rules which provides as follows: 2. Determination of correct date of birth or age.-The date of birth of a Government servant as recorded in the certificate of his having passed the High School or equivalent examination at the time of his entry into the Government service or where a Government servant has not passed any such examination as aforesaid or has passed such examination after joining the service, the date of birth or the age recorded in his service book at the time of his entry into the Government service shall be deemed to be his correct date of birth or age, as the rase may be, for all purposes in relation of his service, including eligibility for promotion, super annuation, premature retirement or retirement benefits and no application or representation shall be entertained for correction of such date or age in any circumstances whatsoever. " 12. A plain reading of the said Rule shows that the date of the birth of a Mehak Singh v. UP State through Secy. Home Deptt. Government servant as recorded in the certificate of his having passed the High School or equivalent examination at the time of his entry into the Government service is to be recorded. Admittedly, at the time of entry into the service, the petitioner was in possession of a certifi cate but he had not produced the same since the production thereof could have disqualified him. On the other hand, he had taken advantage of position that he had not possessed the High School certifi cate at the time of his entry into service and got his service book prepared accord ingly recording the date of birth as 1st July, 1940 as given by him in his own application since been endorsed while signing the ser vice recorded himself which he had al lowed to continue for long 37 years without applying for alteration. He could have applied for alteration in 1974 when 1974 Rules came into force or soon there after. But the petitioner did not do so and had allowed the same record to continue till he was asked to retire by the notice dated 12th November, 1997. 13. He could have applied for alteration in 1974 when 1974 Rules came into force or soon there after. But the petitioner did not do so and had allowed the same record to continue till he was asked to retire by the notice dated 12th November, 1997. 13. Rule 2 contemplates of two situa tions ; one that at the time of entry into the Government service the date of birth as recorded in the certificate of High School, if passed, is to be recorded and the other is that if he passed such examination after entry into the Government service then it should be deemed to be the correct date of birth. Mr. Khan had placed reliance on this exception by reason of the deeming clauses in Rule 2 and contended that by reason thereof the date of birth as was recorded in the certificate, ought to have been treated as date of birth and therefore, correction may be made at any point of time. 14. Mr. Khan had relied upon a decision in the case of Sant Sarain Saxena v. U. P Public Services Tribunal and others, 1991 AWC 104. But the said decision does not help him in the facts and circumstan ces of the case. Inasmuch as in the said case, the date of birth of the petitioner was correctly recorded in the service book as 10th November, 1936. But by mistake in the character roll the date of birth was recorded as 10th November, 1931. The petitioner was asked to retire on the basis of the date of birth recorded in the charac ter roll as on 10th November, 1931 though from the High School certificate it was apparent that the date of birth was 10th November, 1936 as was recorded in the service book. Whereas in the present case the date of birth was recorded in the ser vice book as 1st July, 1940 and the petitioner had never produced the certifi cate until he was asked to retire. The decision in the case of lshwari Dutt Joshi v. State of U. P. and another, (1990) 3 UPLBEC 1551, was relied upon by Mr. Khan. The decision in the case of lshwari Dutt Joshi v. State of U. P. and another, (1990) 3 UPLBEC 1551, was relied upon by Mr. Khan. In the said decision it has been held that the date of birth as recorded in the High School Certificate should have been accepted as correct date of birth and ac cording the service record can be cor rected even at a late stage. In the case of Roop Singh Yadav v. State of U. P. and others, 1987 AWC 1394, it was held that the date of birth as recorded in the High School certificate should be the correct date of birth to be recorded in the service record in terms of 1972 Rules even at the fag end of the career. These two decisions cannot be relied upon in view of the decision in the case of Burn Standard Co. Ltd. & Ors. v. Shri Dinabandhu Majumdcir and another, JT 1995 (4) SC 23, inasmuch as in the said decision the Apex Court had expressed its dissatisfaction that writ Courts are entertaining the application for correction of date of birth made at the fag end of the career and had deprecated the such practice and had observed that the writ petition at the fag end of the ser vice career for correction of the date of birth in the service record cannot be enter tained. Thus with great respect, the above said two decisions cannot be followed with regard to the question of correction of age at the tag end of the career though the principle that the date of birth appearing in the High School certificate is to be preferred and accepted when there is discrepancy in the date of birth recorded in the service record and the certificate, sought to be corrected at appropriate stage, but not in relation to the present case where such a correction was sought for only when the notice to retire was issued on 12th November, 1997 by means of an application dated 14th November, 1997. 15. Admittedly, the fact remains that if the certificate was relied upon at the time of entry in service, the petitioner would have disqualified himself for the service. Thus, the petitioner has not come with clean hands. He has not explained as to why he did not produce the certificate at the time of entry into service. 15. Admittedly, the fact remains that if the certificate was relied upon at the time of entry in service, the petitioner would have disqualified himself for the service. Thus, the petitioner has not come with clean hands. He has not explained as to why he did not produce the certificate at the time of entry into service. He has not explained why he did not apply for correc tion of age earlier. In view of this distinc tion, I am unable to follow the said two decisions. While on the other hand, the Apex Court decision over-rules the ratio by implication to the extent that such cor rection can be carried on even at the fag end of the career. 16. One cannot be allowed to have the best of the both ends. Once the petitioner having overcome his dis qualification by non- production of the certificate, he is estopped from relying on the same for extending the service par ticularly when he himself had accepted and acquired with the date of birth so recorded by signing the service record and not seeking to correct the same till the notice to retire was issued. 17. Mr. K. R. Singh, learned Standing Counsel sought to reply upon a decision in the case of Sarwar Ali v. Municipal Board, Merhara, Etah, 1999 All CJ 236, rendered by a Division Bench of this Court. In the said case, the petitioner had passed High School Examination and in the certificate his date of birth was recorded as on 7th July, 1933 but the same was not produced at the time of entry into service. It was explained in the writ petition that the petitioner had deposited the certificate with the respondents and as such the same was not available to him but such an al legation was not accepted. In this back ground, the Court had taken the view that the petitioner having signed the document namely service record, it is to be presumed that he had accepted the contents of the service record including the date of birth. However, this decision does not help him in the present case where the school cer tificate has been produced though after 12th November, 1997. 18. For what has been stated above, the writ petition fails and is, accordingly, dismissed. There will, however, be no order as to costs. 19. However, this decision does not help him in the present case where the school cer tificate has been produced though after 12th November, 1997. 18. For what has been stated above, the writ petition fails and is, accordingly, dismissed. There will, however, be no order as to costs. 19. Let a certified copy of the order be made available to the learned Counsel for the petitioner on payment of usual charges at the earliest. Petition dismissed. .