SARBJIT SINGH Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner through instant petition under Articles 226/227 of the Constitution of India is seeking direction to respondents to issue him passport with correct date of birth.

(2.) The petitioner was issued passport on 3/9/2003 wherein his date of birth was recorded as 10/4/1963. The said passport expired on 2. 09.2013 and a fresh passport came to be issued on 25/3/2014 which is valid upto 24/3/2024. The petitioner has applied for re-issuance of passport with correct date of birth. As per petitioner his correct date of birth is 10. 04.1956. The petitioner is relying upon birth certificate dtd. 18/7/2020 issued by Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Punjab. He further submits that the birth certificate takes primacy over all other documents evidencing the date of birth of a person and, thus, the passport authorities were not justified in refusing to correct the date of birth. He relies upon Division Bench judgment of this Court in 'Resham Singh vs. Union of India and another, 2008(1) RCR(Civil) 131'.

(3.) Counsel for respondents submits that the petitioner on the earlier occasion did not submit birth certificate and on the basis of documents submitted by him, passport came to be issued. The date of birth at this belated stage cannot be corrected. Thus, the delay has dis-entitled him to any relief. He has placed reliance upon judgment dtd. 21/5/2015 passed in LPA No. 1613 of 2014 titled as 'Ambika Kaul vs. Central Board of Secondary Education and others' as well as judgment dtd. 23/6/2015 passed by learned Single Judge of the Kerala High Court in WP(C) No. 9073 of 2015 'Jayakumar vs. Regional Passport Officer'.