IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 11098 of 2009 Between: Kumari Suddala Lakshmi Kalpana D/o.S.Devaiah R/o. Flat No.5-6, Chankya Shelters, Alwal, R.R. District, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport Officer, Passport Office, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENT 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 writ or direction, more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the act of the respondent in not considering of the request of the petitioner to correct the date of birth in the passport is illegal and arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of Constitution of India, and consequently direct the respondent to correct the date of birth 26.11.1986 to 26.11.1985, entering in the relevant column in the petitioner passport bearing No.F-5549250 dated 24.11.2005 and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. SHANKAR BHEEMANATHI Counsel for the Respondent : MR.P.VENUGOPAL The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.11098 OF 2009 ORDER : This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the action of the respondent in not considering the request of the petitioner for correction of date of birth in her passport bearing No.F-5549250 as arbitrary and illegal. The petitioner states that her date of birth has been mentioned in the Secondary School Certificate issued by the Board of Secondary Education as 26.11.1985, however, in her Passport bearing No.F- 5549250 the date of birth was wrongly mentioned as 26.11.1986. Having noticed the said mistake, the petitioner approached the respondent for correction of the date of birth. However, the respondent did not receive her application and insisted upon producing an order from competent Court. Hence, this writ petition. 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 respondent and any request for correction of the entries in the passport has to be considered in terms of the Circular dated 18-04-2001 according to which a declaration from a competent Court is required only where Clause (c) of the Circular dated 18.04.2001 is attracted. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the respondent to receive the application of the petitioner for correction of date of birth in the passport and process the same basing on the documents filed by the petitioner in terms of the aforementioned guidelines, and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the petitioner’s application. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt.23–06-2009 gbs