IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) TUESDAY, THE THIRTIETH DAY OF JUNE TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 12760 of 2009 Between: Shaik Saipulla S/o. Musthafa R/o. Door No. 2-225, Navuluru Vilage, Mangalagiri Mandal, Guntur District. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport Officer, Government of India Ministry of External Affairs, Hyderabad, A.P. .....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 an appropriate writ or order or direction more particularly one in the nature of writ of Mandamus declaring the letter dt. 3-11-2008 issued by the Respondent thereby directing the Petitioner to furnish declaratory court order regarding change of date of birth as highly arbitrary, illegal and consequently direct the respondent to issue fresh pass port with the correct date of birth of the petitioner and pass such other or further orders. Counsel for the Petitioner : MR. G.VIVEKANAND Counsel for the Respondent : MR. PENJURIVENUGOPAL The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.12760 OF 2009 ORDER : The petitioner herein was issued a Passport bearing No.G.173439 which was valid upto 18.07.1994. The petitioner states that he did not utilize the said passport during the entire period of holding as there was no need. Subsequently, on 15.03.2007 the petitioner applied for fresh passport and in the said application it was mentioned that in the earlier passport held by him his date of birth was wrongly entered as 1.7.1966 instead of 1.7.1969. Accordingly, the petitioner made a request to issue a fresh passport entering his correct date of birth as 1.7.1969. The said request of the petitioner was not considered by the respondent and by proceedings dated 27.04.2007 and 03.11.2008 the petitioner was informed that it is necessary for him to furnish a declaratory order from the competent Court with regard to change of his date of birth. Aggrieved by the same, the present writ petition is filed. 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. For the aforesaid reasons, the impugned orders dated 27.04.2007 and 03.11.2008 are hereby set aside and the Writ Petition is disposed of with a direction to the petitioner to resubmit the application with all the documents to substantiate his correct date of birth. If any such application is made, the respondent is directed to 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 from the petitioner. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt.30.06.2009 gbs