IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND FOUR PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE A.GOPAL REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 12438 of 2004 Between: Syeda Tanveer Roohi W/o Anwar Masood, R/o D. No. 16-1-24/D/12, Farha Colony, Saidabad, Hyderabad ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport Offier, 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 a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate Writ, order or Direction directing the Respondents to receive the application being submitted by the petitioner of correction of her date of birth as 11-8-1962 in the place of 11-8-1961 and alter the same by declaring the action of the Respondents in refusing to entertain the application for alteration of date of birth as illegal and unconstitutional and pass such other order or orders as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.MD.SALEEM Counsel for the Respondent: SMT.R.RAGHAMMA (Addl.SC FOR CG) The Court made the following at the stage of admission: ORAL ORDER Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Standing Counsel for the Central Government for the respondent-Passport Authority. When the application of the petitioner for correction of date of birth entered in the passport is not entertained, this writ petition is filed, seeking writ of Mandamus, to direct the respondents to issue fresh passport with correct date of birth by entertaining her application as per Rule 5 of the Passport Rules,1980. It is the case of the petitioner that she obtained passport and her date of birth was wrongly entered in the passport as 11-08-1961. It is the further case of the petitioner that her correct date of birth is 11-08-1963 and the same is evident from school records. It is required to notice that there is no provision under the Passport 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 18-04-2001, 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 affect 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 a civil order from a competent Court of jurisdiction, certificating 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. __________________ A.GOPAL REDDY,J *TSNR/GHN TO 1.The Regional Passport Offier, Hyderabad 2. Two C.D. Copies