Shankar Lal vs. Hindustan Copper Ltd. & Ors.
Background
Shankar Lal, a miner at Hindustan Copper Limited, took Voluntary Retirement in 2002. His employer computed his retirement benefits based on a date of birth of 21 September 1945 (taken from a statutory "Form B" register from 1971), but Shankar Lal maintained his real date of birth was 21 September 1949, as recorded in his own service book (opened in 1975), his pay slips, and his LIC insurance policy, all of which would have entitled him to a longer service tenure and higher benefits. His challenge failed before both a Single Judge and a Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court, which relied on the older Form B entry and held his claim was raised too late.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that an entry in the statutory Form B register has high evidentiary value but is not conclusive proof of a person's actual date of birth, especially when the employer's own later records (service book, pay slips, VRS benefit calculations) consistently used a different date for over two decades. The Court found the employer had acted unilaterally and without giving Shankar Lal a hearing before switching back to the older date only after he retired, which violated principles of natural justice. It rejected the High Court's reasoning that the claim was time-barred, noting that no reason existed to challenge the service book date until the employer suddenly changed its position in 2002, and it also rejected the argument that Shankar Lal was raising this only to extend his career, since he had already retired. The Court set aside the High Court's judgments, quashed the employer's rejection order, and directed that his retirement benefits be recalculated using 21 September 1949 as his date of birth, with 7% interest on the shortfall from the date of his release.
Lesson Learnt
An employer cannot unilaterally alter a long-settled record (like date of birth) to an employee's financial detriment at the end of their career without giving the employee a fair hearing: consistent, long-used records like a service book, pay slips, and insurance documents can outweigh an older, less-used statutory entry.