ALI IMRAN Vs. REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner obtained a passport bearing No.A7376656 dated 10-3-1999. In the passport, his date of birth was recorded as 28-7-1972. The petitioner again approached the respondent, namely, Regional Passport Officer, Secunderabad requesting to correct the date of birth as 28-7-1975. He placed reliance on the birth certificate issued under Sections 12 and 17 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969. Alleging that the respondents refused to receive the application for amendment/correction of date of birth, the petitioner filed the instant writ petition seeking a direction to the respondent to receive the application and make corrections. Reliance is placed on the Circular dated 18-4-2001 issued by the Government of India in the Ministry of External Affairs.

(2.) The Circular dated 18-4-2001 relied on was issued pursuant to a judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay in Civil Writ Petition No.1072 of 2000. The clarifications/instructions issued are as under.

(3.) Having regard to the clarification issued by the Government of India, I directed the learned Standing Counsel for Central Government, Sri K.G.Krishna Murthy to produce a copy of the application made by the petitioner for passport in the year 1999. The application is produced before me today. A perusal of the application along with its enclosures reveal that the petitioner enclosed secondary school certificate bearing C019604 dated 10-6-1987 which shows his date of birth as 28-7-1972. Therefore, it cannot be said that an error has crept in the passport issued to the petitioner. As the petitioner is now placing reliance on the birth certificate issued by the Registrar of Births and Deaths, Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, which shows his date of birth as 28-7-1975, his case does not fall within the guidelines/instructions issued by the Government of India. If the petitioner is so advised, he may have to approach the civil court or the authorities under the Education Act seeking necessary correction of date of birth in the secondary school certificate and then approach the passport issuing authority. The petitioner's application was rightly not accepted by the respondent. The writ petition, for the above reasons, is dismissed at the admission stage.