Mithun Manhas Date-of-Birth Dispute Reaches Sessions Court; Notice Issued to BCCI President, Police
Jammu, Nov 12, KNT: The date-of-birth controversy involving Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Mithun Manhas has taken a fresh legal turn, with the Court of the 1st Additional Sessions Judge, Jammu, entertaining a criminal revision petition challenging an earlier order that dismissed a plea seeking registration of an FIR in the matter.
The court, presided over by Additional Sessions Judge Amarjeet Singh Langeh, has registered the revision petition, filed by Sudershan Mehta, and issued formal notices to Manhas and the Station House Officer (SHO) of Police Station Nowabad, Jammu, directing them to submit their responses by November 20, 2026.
The petition, titled Sudershan Mehta v. UT of J&K through SHO Nowabad and Mithun Manhas, has been registered under File No. 194/2026/Cr. Revision, bearing CNR No. JKJM010054322026.
The development follows an order dated November 6 passed by the Special Railway Magistrate, Jammu, dismissing Mehta’s application under Section 175(3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), which had sought directions for registration of an FIR against Manhas over alleged discrepancies in his date-of-birth records.
The revision petition challenges the Magistrate’s decision, arguing that the application was dismissed primarily on the basis of a preliminary inquiry report submitted by the SHO of Police Station Nowabad, without independent judicial verification of the conflicting records cited by the complainant.
One of the principal grounds raised in the revision petition concerns the role assigned to the same police station against whose alleged inaction the complainant had approached the court. Mehta has argued that relying upon an inquiry by the concerned police station, without further judicial scrutiny, defeated the purpose of approaching the Magistrate under Section 175(3) BNSS.
The petition also disputes the conclusion drawn from the police inquiry, claiming that several records reflecting different dates of birth were not adequately examined.
According to the documents cited by the complainant, an email confirmation from Maharaja Hari Singh Agricultural Collegiate (MHAC) School, Nagbani, Jammu, bearing Admission No. 2236, records Manhas’s date of birth as December 9, 1977.
The petition also refers to records of Shri Mahavir Jain Higher Secondary School, Jammu, relating to Classes XI and XII, which allegedly show his date of birth as October 12, 1979, under JKBOSE Roll No. 140762. It further cites information displayed on the official website of the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA), which also records October 12, 1979.
These dates differ from September 12, 1977, which the police inquiry had found consistently recorded in Manhas’s CBSE, PAN, Aadhaar and employment records.
The Magistrate, while dismissing the application, had observed that the material placed before the court did not establish prima facie evidence of fabrication or manipulation warranting registration of an FIR. The court had also pointed out that the complainant could approach the DDCA for verification of its records.
With the criminal revision now registered and notices issued to both respondents, the matter has entered a fresh stage of judicial consideration. The Sessions Court is scheduled to take it up on November 20. [KNT]
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