IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE SEVENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 1627 of 2009 Between: S.B.Chinna Bala Krishna, S/o. G.Balappa, R/o. D.No.9-55, Settur Village and Mandal, Ananthapur District. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport Officer, Regional Passport Office, Near Clock Tower, Secunderabad .....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 a writ or order more particularly one in the nature of Writ of mandamus declaring the action of the respondents in not issuing fresh passport by changing the petitioners date of birth as 14-07-1981 instead of 14-07-1982 insisting the petitioner to approach the Civil Court as illegal, arbitrary and against the principles of natural justice and contrary to their own circular issued by the Government of India and consequently direct the respondents to issue fresh passport by changing the petitioners date of birth as 14-07-1981. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.N.ASWARTHA NARAYANA Counsel for the Respondent No.: . The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No : 1627 of 2009 O R D E R : The petitioner herein was issued passport bearing No.E0104452. However, in the said passport, his date of birth was wrongly shown as 14.07.1982 instead of 14.07.1981. Having realized the said mistake, the petitioner approached the respondent for correction of the entry in the passport with regard to his date of birth, on the basis of the SCC Certificate issued by the Board of Secondary Education, A.P. Hyderabad and other relevant certificates, which establish his correct date of birth. However, the respondent refused to entertain his application and insisted upon producing a declaration from the competent civil Court. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition is filed. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. Despite notice, none appeared for the respondent. 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. 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 for correction of his date of birth. In which event the 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: 07.07.2009 KLP