IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) THURSDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF JANUARY TWO THOUSAND AND FIVE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION No. 299 of 2005 Between: Tanveer Begum D/o.Syed Abdul Khayum, represented by GPA holder Mohd. Osman, R/o.H.No.9-7-321,IInd Lancer, Karwan Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport office, Near Clock Tower, Secunderabad, rep. by the Passport Officer. .....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, order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the inaction of the respondent to receive the application to consider for issuance of fresh passport with correct date of birth of the petitioner, as illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and consequently direct the respondent to receive the petitioner's application and consider for issuance of fresh passport with correct date of birth of the petitioner as 2-9-1976 as per the Secondary School Certificate. Counsel for the Petitioner : Mr.T.DAMODAR Counsel for the Respondent : Mr.A.RAJASEKHAR REDDY, SC FOR CG The Court made the following : ORDER: Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government for the respondent-Passport Authority. It is the case of the petitioner that her actual date of birth is 2-9-1976, but in the Passport issued to her by the respondent, her date of birth was wrongly mentioned as 1-10-1972, and that though she represented to the respondent, to alter her date of birth in the Passport and issue fresh passport, the respondent refused to entertain the application on the ground that they have no power to make correction of date of birth in the Passport. The petitioner, therefore, filed the present writ petition praying to direct the respondent to entertain her application for correction of date of birth and issue fresh Passport. It is required to notice that there is no provision under the Passports Act, 1967, which empowers the Regional Passport Officer to correct entries in the Passport. However, pursuant to the judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, in W.P.No. 1072 of 2000, the Government of India issued instructions/ clarifications in Circular dated 18-4-2001, which are to the following effect: a. Where an applicant is seeking rectification/correction of a mistake in the entry on date of birth/place of birth in the passport, PIA (Passport Issuing Authority) may after verifying/satisfying himself, effect 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 i.e., school/educational 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. As of today, if any request for correction of date of birth in the Passport is made, the Passport Issuing Authority is required to follow the aforementioned instructions. In that view of the matter, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition with the following directions: The respondent is directed to receive the application of the petitioner for correction of date of birth in the Passport/issuance of fresh Passport, and process the same after verifying the genuineness or otherwise thereof basing on the documents the petitioner may file in support of her case for change of date of birth, in the light of the aforementioned guidelines, and pass appropriate orders. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs. _____________ N.V.RAMANA, J Date: 27.1.2005 DA/TVK To 1. The Passport Officer, Regional Passport Office, Near ClockTower, Secunderabad. 2. Two CD copies.