A single-judge bench of Justice Prathiba Singh said in its order that a large number of construction workers are “either illiterate or even semi-illiterate” and hail from rural backgrounds. So it is possible that their families may not have preserved proper date of birth records and on “most occasions, date of birth is filled on the basis of information available with the adults in the family as also certain external events which may have occurred”.

“The right of pension of construction workers cannot be deprived merely due to some distinction in the date of birth as long as the identity of the worker can be established and the claim is not a fake claim or a ghost claim,” the bench held.

Case Brief

In the said matter, carpenter, approached the high court seeking the release of his pension as per Rule 273 of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules 2002. He attained the age of superannuation on December 31, 2014, and made an application for pension on January 5, 2016. He was registered with the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board on March 19, 2013.

He gave an affidavit to the board confirming that his date of birth was January 1, 1955, and submitted his Aadhaar card once again reflecting the date of birth as January 1, 1955. He also filed a reply to the deficiency letter on September 17, 2020.

The petitioner, submitted that despite his reply, his application was not processed. A second deficiency letter was issued on February 4, 2021, where he was asked to submit a valid age proof and called to appear in person. The plea prayed for the release of the pension with effect from January 1, 2015, along with applicable interest.

The court held that the date of birth of the petitioner in the registration card with the board and in the Aadhaar card was “correctly recorded” and that there was no contradiction between the two documents.

“Therefore, the petitions for release of pension due to the workers are allowed and disposed of in the above terms,” Justice Singh said, directing that the pension along with applicable interest be released within eight weeks, subject to necessary verification of credentials and documents, to Raghunath.