Allowed¶14

Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape and Another v. the State of Maharashtra and Others

Bombay HC12 Mar 2026WP/1775/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Date of birth correction in school record; Rule 26.4 Secondary School Code; Janabai Himmatrao Thakur Full Bench decision AIR OnLine 2019 Bombay 1055; Headmaster lacking power to correct date of birth; Education Officer; Grampanchayat birth certificate; binding interpretation; contempt warning for rejecting applications of persons not studying in school; Bombay High Court Aurangabad Bench; 2026.

What did the court decide?

Correction of the petitioner's date of birth in the school record: respondent No. 3 (Headmaster) to forward the application to respondent No. 2 (Education Officer) within 15 days, and respondent No. 2 to issue an order granting the change within 15 days thereafter. ¶14

Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape and Another vs the State of Maharashtra and Others — Bombay HC (2026) — LawSathi Research

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the petitioner's date of birth in the school record can be corrected from 26.06.1983 to 26.08.1983 on the basis of the Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Grampanchayat Pimpalgaon Pisa, despite the Headmaster's refusal on the ground that he has no power to correct the date of birth. +1 more

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Court's answer

The writ petition seeking correction of the petitioner's date of birth in the school record stands allowed.

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Ratio / Principle

This Court's interpretation of Rule 26.4 of the Secondary School Code (Full Bench decision in Janabai Thakur) is binding on all the authorities.

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Key takeaways

Respondent No. 1 is directed to apprise the concerned authorities of the Full Bench decision in Janabai Thakur, and the authorities are not to reject applications for correction of school records on the ground that the person is not taking education in the school; if such orders still recur, this Court will consider them contempt.ratio¶13
Respondent No. 3 (Headmaster) shall forward the petitioner's application to respondent No. 2 (Education Officer) within 15 days, and respondent No. 2 shall issue an order granting the change of date of birth in the school record within 15 days of receipt of the application.ratio¶15

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Bombay High Court (Aurangabad Bench) allowed Writ Petition No. 1775 of 2026 (Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape v. State of Maharashtra) seeking correction of the petitioner's date of birth in the school record from 26.06.1983 to 26.08.1983, supported by a Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Grampanchayat Pimpalgaon Pisa. Relying on the Full Bench decision in Janabai Himmatrao Thakur vs. State of Maharashtra, [AIR OnLine 2019 Bombay 1055], the Court held that its interpretation of Rule 26.4 of the Secondary School Code is binding on all authorities; respondent No. 1 (State) was directed to apprise the concerned authorities that applications for correction must not be rejected merely because the applicant is no longer taking education in the school, failing which such orders would be treated as contempt. Respondent No. 3 (Headmaster) was directed to forward the application to respondent No. 2 (Education Officer) within 15 days, and respondent No. 2 was directed to issue an order granting the change of date of birth within a further 15 days.

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2026:BHC-AUG:11409-DB

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY BENCH AT AURANGABAD

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WRIT PETITION NO. 1775 OF 2026

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Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape And Another VERSUS

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The State Of Maharashtra And Others

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Mr. K. N. Bhosale, Advocate for petitioners Mr. S. B. Narwade, AGP for respondent-State Mr. Shaik Parvez h/f Mr. S. B. pulkundwar, Advocate for respondent No. 2

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CORAM : Smt. Vibha Kankanwadi & Hiten S. Venegavkar, JJ. DATE : 12^th March, 2026

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PER COURT :-

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Present petition has been filed for correction of date of birth in the school record. The petitioner submits that his date of birth is “26.08.1983” however, in the school record his date of birth has been wrongly mentioned as “26.06.1983”.The petitioner has filed copy of Birth Certificate issued by the Registrar of Grampanchayat Pimpalgaon Pisa, Tql. Shrigonda, Dist. Ahilyanagar wherein his date of Birth is mentioned as 26.08.1983. Respondent No. 3 – Headmaster instead of forwarding the application of the petitioner to Education Officer, refused to correct the date of birth on the ground that the Headmaster don’t have power to correct date of birth. The petitioner is relying on the Full Bench decision of this Court in Janabai Himmatrao Thakur vs. State of Maharashtra and others , [AIR OnLine 2019 Bombay 1055].

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We are coming across many such orders, in spite of the decision of this Court in Janabai Thakur (supra), stating that the applicant/petitioner is not taking education in the school and, therefore,

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1 of 2

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940-WP-1775-2026.odt

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the authority has no jurisdiction or power to make changes in the school record. While allowing the present petition, we direct respondent No.1 to apprise the concerned authorities about the Full Bench decision of this Court in Janabai Thakur (supra) and not to reject the applications on the ground that the person is not taking education in the school. The interpretation in respect of Rule 26.4 of Secondary School Code has been interpreted by this Court and that interpretation is binding on all the authorities. Even after apprising the authorities by respondent No. 1, if we come across such orders, then this Court will consider such orders as contempt.

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3. With these observations, the writ petition stands allowed.

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Respondent No. 3 is directed to forward application of the petitioner to respondent No. 2 – Education Officer within a period of 15 days from today. After receipt of application, respondent No. 2 is directed to issue order and grant the application forwarded by respondent No. 3 in respect of change in the date of birth of petitioner in the school record within a period of 15 days thereafter.

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(Hiten S. Venegavkar, J.)

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(Smt. Vibha Kankanwadi, J.)

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B. S. Joshi

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2 of 2

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940-WP-1775-2026.odt

Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape and Another v. the State of Maharashtra and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Pandurang Abasaheb Ithape and Another v. the State of Maharashtra and Others

Case brief

What is this about?

What did the court decide?

Why is it important?

What the court decided

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