IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE FIFTEENTH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 27261 of 2007 Between: Md. Vasil Uddin S/o. Md. Saleem Uddin R/o. 9-18-90, Mukhrampura, Malapalle, Nizamabad, Nizamabad District. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs,Rep. by its Secretary, New Delhi. 2 The Regional Pass Port Officer, Regional Pass Port Office, Hyderabad, Near Prashant Theatre, Secunderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to issue an appropriate Writ order or direction preferably one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the 2nd respondent in not correcting the date of birth as well as spelling of my name in the Pass Port of the petitioner as arbitrary, illegal and unjust and consequently direct the 2nd respondent to correct the date of birth of the petitioner in the pass port as 10th July, 1978 instead of 10th July, 1975 while correcting the spelling of my name as "Vasil Uddin" instead of "Wasil Uddin" and pass such other or further orders Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.J.KANAKAIAH Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.PENJURIVENUGOPAL The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.27261 of 2007 ORDER : This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the action of the 2nd respondent in not correcting the date of birth as well as name of the petitioner in the pass port is arbitrary, illegal and opposed to the Circular dated 18.04.2001 issued by the Government of India. The petitioner was issued passport on 08-08-1997. However, it was found that the petitioner’s name was wrongly mentioned as “Wasil Uddin” instead of “Vasil Uddin” in the passport. Similarly the date of birth was wrongly mentioned as 10th July 1975 instead of 10th July 1978. In the circumstances, the petitioner made an application on 03.08.2007 requesting the 2nd respondent to make corrections in the passport with regard to his name as well as date of birth, but the 2nd respondent expressed that he is not competent authority to make such corrections in the passport and the same has got to be rectified in a Court of law. Challenging the said action, this writ petition is filed. I have heard the learned Counsel for both the parties. It is to be noted that though there is no provision under the Passports Act, 1967 providing for correction of entries in the passport, the Government of India issued instructions/clarifications vide Circular dated 18-04-2001 which run as under : (a) Where an applicant is seeking rectification/Correction of a mistake in the entry of date of birth/place of birth in the passport, PIA (Passport Issuing Authority) may after verifying/satisfying himself, affect the correction treating the same as a technical correction. There is no need for a declaratory order in such cases. (b) Where a competent authority issuing a birth certificate or an educational board registering a date of birth along with place of birth as valid were to issue any correction or amendment, PIA may effect the necessary amendment in the passport without insisting on a Court Order. As per the provisions of Section 21 of the General Clauses Act, 1997, a competent authority issuing a certificate could also make necessary amendments to the same. (c) Where the initial entry has been made on the basis of a supportive document issued by one competent authority and the applicant subsequently requests for a change on the basis of a certificate issued by another competent authority i.e., municipal authorities resulting in conflicting sources of valid proof, the PIA should direct the applicant to obtain a civil order from a competent Court of jurisdiction, certifying the valid date of birth/place of birth. The above instructions are binding on the respondents and any request for correction of the entries in the passport has to be considered in terms of the Circular dated 18-04-2001. In the circumstances, a declaration from a competent Court of jurisdiction cannot be insisted for considering each and every request of correction of entries in the passport. Such a declaration from a competent Court of jurisdiction is required only where Clause (c) of the Circular dated 18.04.2001 is attracted. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case, the Writ Petition is disposed of granting liberty to the petitioner to resubmit the application along with all the relevant supporting material in which event the 2nd respondent shall consider the same in terms of the Circular dated 18-04-2001 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of such application. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Date: 15–06-2009 KLP