JUDGMENT Pranab Kumar Chattopadhyay, J. This writ petition has been filed assailing the judgment and order dated 14th February, 2013 by the West Bengal Administrative Tribunal in O.A. No. 604 of 2012 whereby the learned Tribunal refused to issue any direction to the State Government for correction of the date of birth of the petitioner. Going through the records, we find that the date of birth of the petitioner was recorded in the service book as 26th September, 1952. It has been submitted on behalf of the petitioner that after the death of his father on 24th June, 2002 there was a long lasting family dispute which came to an end during the Puja Vacation in the year 2005. Thereafter, according to the said petitioner, while going through the documents left by his father he suddenly found the original birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh wherefrom the said petitioner came to know that out of the wedlock of his parents, a male child was born on 9th October, 1953 and also found one affidavit affirmed by his deceased father which revealed that actual date of birth of the petitioner is 9th October, 1953 and not the 26th September, 1952. The copies of the aforesaid certificate and the affidavit sworn before the Notary Public by the deceased father have been annexed with the present writ petition. It has been submitted on behalf of the petitioner that after discovery of the aforesaid original birth certificate, petitioner herein enquired from his mother about his actual date of birth and in reply to the said query mother of the petitioner disclosed that the actual date of birth of the petitioner is 9th October, 1953. The elder brother of the said petitioner also corroborated the aforesaid fact about his date of birth. The father of the petitioner was posted as Habildar in the Indian Army at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh and the mother of the petitioner was also staying at the relevant point of time at the official quarter of his deceased father at Secunderabad along with the elder brother of the said petitioner. The father of the petitioner was posted as Habildar in the Indian Army at Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh and the mother of the petitioner was also staying at the relevant point of time at the official quarter of his deceased father at Secunderabad along with the elder brother of the said petitioner. After discovery of the aforesaid original birth certificate and the affidavit affirmed by the deceased father before the Notary Public, petitioner herein came to learn that he was actually born on 9th October, 1953 and not on 26th September, 1952 which was erroneously recorded in the service records. The petitioner, thereafter, applied before the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for correction of his erroneously recorded date of birth in the admit card and the pass certificate on the basis of the aforesaid birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh and the affidavit affirmed by the deceased father before the Notary Public. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education by the written communication dated 7th July, 2006 informed the petitioner that the prayer for correction of the date of birth has been allowed by the Board in its meeting held on 14th January, 2006 and as a result whereof the date of birth of the petitioner was corrected as 9th October, 1953 in place of 26th September, 1952. The aforesaid written communication of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education dated 7th July, 2006 is set out hereunder :- “From: West Bengal Board of Secondary Education 77/2, Park Street, Kolkata-16. No.141(D.S. R-II) Dt. 07/07/06 To The Sunil Kumar Santra, 24/A, ‘H’ Road,P.O. – Nonachandanpukur (Barrackpur) Dt. – 24 Prganas (North). Sub: Prayer regarding correction of Date of Birth of Sri Sunil Kumar Santra, bearing Roll Sing (Sc) No - 11 Yr. 1969 (H.S.) The undersigned is directed to state that the prayer for change of Date of Birth of Sri Sunil Kumar Santra has been considered by the A.R.C.C. of the Board in its meeting held on 14.01.2006 and the same has been approved as 09-10-1953 in place of 26-09-1952 by the committee. D. Ganguly D.S. (R-II) 7.7.06 Copy forwarded for information & n.a. to: (i) The H/M BEPABERI S.N.M. HIGH SCHOOL (H.S.) P.O. Bajomelia, Dist. – Hooghly. D. Ganguly D.S. (R-II) 7.7.06 Copy forwarded for information & n.a. to: (i) The H/M BEPABERI S.N.M. HIGH SCHOOL (H.S.) P.O. Bajomelia, Dist. – Hooghly. D.S. (R-II)” The petitioner thereafter, by the written communication dated 12th July, 2006 requested the Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, West Bengal for correction of his date of birth in the service records including the service book in view of the correction of the date of birth made by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education in the admit card and the pass certificate of the said petitioner. Thereafter, the Special Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, Govt. of West Bengal by the written communication dated 2nd November, 2010 requested the Deputy Secretary (Records), West Bengal Board of Secondary Education to supply the documentary evidence on the basis of which the date of birth has been changed in the admit card of the petitioner herein. The said written communication dated 2nd November, 2010 made by the Special Commissioner, Commercial Taxes to the Deputy Secretary (Records), West Bengal Board of Secondary Education is set out hereunder :- “GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL DIRECTORATE OF COMMERCIAL TAXES 14, BELIAGHATA ROAD, KOLKATA-15, No. 17237 CT Date 2 Nov 2010. To The Deputy Secretary (Records), West Bengal Board of Secondary Education, 77/2, Park Street, Kol-700016. Subject:- Verification of examination of result & Date of Birth in respect of Sri Sunil Kumar Santra. Ref: 141(DSR-II) dtd. 07/07/2006 addressed to S.K.Santra. & Your Memo No.627 DS (R) dtd. 05/07/09 addressed to the Deputy Secretary, Government of West Bengal, Finance (Revenue) Dept. Sir, With reference to above and as per direction of the Government I am to request you to kindly favour us with the information as regards the documentary evidence on the basis of which, the change of the date of birth as recorded in the admit card of Sri Sunil Kumar Santra, at present posted as Additional Commissioner Commercial Taxes under this Directorate, had been accepted by you. Copies of the letter noted in the reference are enclosed herewith for your ready reference. Yours faithfully, Sd/- (N.K. SARKAR) Special Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, West Bengal" Ultimately, the prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the service records including the service book was rejected by the State Government and the Deputy Secretary, Finance (Revenue) Department, Govt. of West Bengal communicated the said decision by the written communication dated 13th January, 2012. of West Bengal communicated the said decision by the written communication dated 13th January, 2012. While rejecting the aforesaid prayer of the petitioner, no reason was, however, assigned by the Govt. of West Bengal. The said written communication of the Deputy Secretary dated 13th January, 2012 is set out hereunder:- “Government of West Bengal Finance (Revenue) Department No. 54 – F.T. Kolkata, the 13th January, 2012. F.T./0/1E-112/09-S.T. From : The Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal. To : The Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, West Bengal, 14, Beliaghata Road, Kolkata – 15. Sub : Change of date of birth of Shri Sunil Kumar Santra, Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes of the Commercial Taxes Directorate. The undersigned is directed to refer to his memo. No.2992-C.T., dated 05.02.2007 on the above noted subject and to say that the prayer of Shri Sunil Kumar Santra, Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes for change of his date of birth has been examined by this department in consultation with Finance (Audit) Department, Group-P (Service). But it is regretted that same cannot be acceded to. The original Service Book of Shri Sunil Kumar Santra, Deputy Commissioner of Commercial Taxes is returned herewith. Receipt of the Service Book may kindly be acknowledged. Sd/- Deputy Secretary to the Government of West Bengal.” Challenging the aforesaid order as communicated by the Deputy Secretary, Govt. of West Bengal on 13th January, 2012 refusing to change the date of birth of the petitioner, an application was filed before the learned Tribunal by the said petitioner which was finally disposed of by the learned Tribunal by the impugned order dated 14th February, 2013. The learned Tribunal relying on the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of State of Haryana Vs. Satish Kumar Mittal & Anr., reported in (2010) 9 SCC 337 upheld the decision of the State Government and refused to grant any relief to the petitioner herein. The learned Tribunal observed that the petitioner herein approached for correction of the date of birth recorded in the service book in the year 2006 whereas the said petitioner joined the service in the year 1973. The learned Tribunal also observed that the Government Employee cannot be encouraged for rectification of the date of birth after several years since the same would cause inconvenience to the department and other fellow colleagues. Mr. The learned Tribunal also observed that the Government Employee cannot be encouraged for rectification of the date of birth after several years since the same would cause inconvenience to the department and other fellow colleagues. Mr. Ekramul Bari representing the State Respondents also relied on the aforesaid decision of the Supreme Court and submitted that the prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth could not be entertained for delayed approach. The learned advocate of the State Respondents further submitted that the petitioner herein appeared in the Secondary Examination as a private candidate and therefore, no reliance can be placed on the admit card issued by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for the purpose of correction of date of birth in the service records of the said petitioner. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education upon verification of the birth certificate and the affidavit of the deceased father of the said petitioner accepted that the said petitioner was born on 9th October, 1953. It is also not in dispute that the date of birth of the petitioner was recorded in the service records on the basis of the admit card and pass certificate issued earlier by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education. Therefore, the date of birth of the petitioner should have been corrected in the service records in view of the correction of the date of birth in the admit card and pass certificate by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education specially when, the petitioner herein under peculiar circumstances, discovered his original birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh. The competent authority of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education after proper verification of the records and the documents supplied by the petitioner herein allowed the prayer of the said petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the admit card and pass certificate and communicated the same to the petitioner by the written communication dated 7th July, 2006. The respondent authorities herein also verified the records and documents supplied by the petitioner after receiving the application from the said petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the service records including the service book. The respondent authorities rejected the prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth without assigning any reason. The respondent authorities herein also verified the records and documents supplied by the petitioner after receiving the application from the said petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the service records including the service book. The respondent authorities rejected the prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth without assigning any reason. The respondent authorities never disputed the genuineness of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority. The petitioner herein submitted the aforesaid birth certificate at a belated stage in view of discovery of the same after the death of his father. The affidavit affirmed by the father of the petitioner in the year 1994 mentioning the correct date of birth of the said petitioner as 9th October, 1953 was also discovered only after the death of his father by the petitioner herein while searching the papers left by his deceased father in the year 2005. The learned Tribunal failed to appreciate the peculiar facts involved in this case. There was virtually no delay on the part of the petitioner for taking necessary steps regarding correction of his date of birth after discovery of the aforesaid relevant documents. The petitioner herein discovered the original birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority, Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh in the year 2005 and immediately thereafter submitted an application before the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for correction of his date of birth in the admit card and the pass certificate on the basis of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education by the written communication dated 7th July, 2006 allowed the aforesaid prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the admit card and the pass certificate. Within a couple of days thereafter, the petitioner herein by the letter dated 12th July, 2006 requested the respondent no. 3 herein to change the date of birth of the said petitioner in the service records and also in the service book since the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education corrected the date of birth of the petitioner. Within a couple of days thereafter, the petitioner herein by the letter dated 12th July, 2006 requested the respondent no. 3 herein to change the date of birth of the said petitioner in the service records and also in the service book since the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education corrected the date of birth of the petitioner. The petitioner herein had no knowledge about his actual date of birth recorded in the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority and the actual date of birth recorded in the birth certificate by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority came to the notice of the petitioner while searching the papers left by his deceased father in the year 2005. After discovery of the original birth certificate, all the relevant papers and documents were initially placed before the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education for correction of the relevant records namely, admit card and pass certificate of the said petitioner. Thereafter, the petitioner submitted all the relevant documents including the corrected records of the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education with regard to the actual date of birth of the said petitioner before the respondent authorities for correction of the date of birth in the service records of the said petitioner. The respondent authorities however, refused to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in the service records as a result whereof the petitioner herein had to retire from service on 20th September, 2012 on the basis of the erroneously recorded date of birth of the said petitioner. The learned advocate of the petitioner relied on a decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Madan Mohan Singh & Ors. Vs. Rajni Kant & Anr., reported in (2010) 9 SCC 209 wherein the Hon’ble Supreme Court specifically held :- “Para-21. For determining the age of a person, the best evidence is of his/her parents, if it is supported by unimpeachable documents. In case the date of birth depicted in the school register/certificate stands belied by the unimpeachable evidence of reliable persons and contemporaneous documents like the date of birth register of the Municipal Corporation, government hospital/nursing home, etc., the entry in the school register is to be discarded. In case the date of birth depicted in the school register/certificate stands belied by the unimpeachable evidence of reliable persons and contemporaneous documents like the date of birth register of the Municipal Corporation, government hospital/nursing home, etc., the entry in the school register is to be discarded. (Vide Brij Mohan Singh v. Priya Narain Sinha, Birad Mal Singhvi v. Anand Purohit, Vishnu v. State of Maharashtra and Satpal Singh v. State of Haryana.)” In the present case, the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority should be regarded as unimpeachable contemporaneous document in relation to the date of birth of the petitioner herein. Therefore, the date of birth recorded in an unimpeachable contemporaneous document like the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority could not be disbelieved under any circumstances. The respondent authorities also did not disbelieve the said document but refused to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in the service records without assigning any reason. The learned Tribunal approved the decision of the respondent authorities on the ground that the petitioner herein allowed to continue his earlier recorded date of birth undisputedly for several years and therefore, the said petitioner should not be encouraged to rectify his date of birth after several years since according to the Tribunal, the same would cause inconvenience to the department and other fellow colleagues. The learned Tribunal failed to appreciate that the mistake can be corrected at any stage after its detection. In the present case, mistake with regard to the recording of date of birth of the petitioner was detected only after discovery of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority which is an unimpeachable contemporaneous document and the court cannot ignore any unimpeachable contemporaneous document like the original birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority of the Indian Army. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education was justified in correcting the date of birth of the petitioner in the admit card and pass certificate upon placing reliance on the unimpeachable evidence in view of the discovery of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority. The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education was justified in correcting the date of birth of the petitioner in the admit card and pass certificate upon placing reliance on the unimpeachable evidence in view of the discovery of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority. The respondent authorities however, committed a serious error by not allowing the prayer of the petitioner for correction of the date of birth in the service records and also in the service book upon taking note of the unimpeachable evidence available before the said authorities in view of discovery and submission of the unimpeachable contemporaneous document like the original birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority of the Indian Army and also considering the fact that the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Authorities corrected the date of birth of the petitioner in the admit card and pass certificate issued earlier to the said petitioner. The learned Tribunal erroneously approved the stand taken by the respondent authorities without appreciating the errors committed by the said authorities. Therefore, the impugned order passed by the respondent authority dated 13th January, 2013 cannot be sustained and the same is accordingly quashed. On the identical grounds, the impugned order passed by the learned Tribunal on 14th February, 2003 also cannot be sustained and the same is, therefore, set aside. The respondent authorities illegally superannuated the petitioner on the basis of the erroneously recorded date of birth on 20th September, 2012 which cannot be approved. The respondent authorities are therefore, directed to forthwith correct the service records as well as the service book of the petitioner on the basis of the birth certificate issued by the Secunderabad Cantonment Authority of the Indian Army and allow the said petitioner to resume his duties and pay all admissible salary and allowances month by month regularly. The petitioner herein will also be entitled to backwages from the date of his illegal superannuation in the month of September, 2012 till the date of joining the duties in terms of this order. The aforesaid backwages should be paid on or before 9th October, 2013 positively. Needles to mention, that the petitioner herein will remain in service till attaining the age of superannuation according to the corrected date of birth. This writ petition thus, stands allowed. In the facts of the present case, there will be however, no order as to costs. The aforesaid backwages should be paid on or before 9th October, 2013 positively. Needles to mention, that the petitioner herein will remain in service till attaining the age of superannuation according to the corrected date of birth. This writ petition thus, stands allowed. In the facts of the present case, there will be however, no order as to costs. I agree.