A division bench comprising Justice Subramonium Prasad and Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar said that the citizen of the Country is entitled to a true and correct narration of all necessary and relevant particulars in the public documents that pertain to them.
The Court was dealing with an appeal filed by CBSE challenging a single judge order concerning the date of birth of one Prema Evelyn D Cruz. She had sought a direction to the authorities to correct her date of birth in the passing certificate of All India Secondary School Examination and any other document relying upon the aforesaid certificate, after recording her correct date of birth. She relied upon the birth certificate issued by the Greater Chennai Corporation.
It added: “There is thus an imminent need to ensure that all official documents are in consonance with each other, as this not only provides certainty regarding specific details contained in public documents but also helps preserve the identity of a citizen, with the date of birth being an essential facet.” The Court upheld the impugned judgment and rejected CBSE’s appeal.