THE HON'BLE Ms. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO: 14983 of 2006 Dated: 20-09-2006 Between: Mohd. Haroon ..... PETITIONER AND The Joint Secretary (CVP) & Chief Passport Officer, CVP Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Patiala House Annexee, Tilak Marg, New Delhi and another .....RESPONDENT THE HON'BLE Ms. JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO: 14983 of 2006 O R D E R: This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the action of the second respondent-Regional Passport Officer in not correcting name and date of birth of the petitioner in his passport bearing No.F 9087556 is arbitrary and illegal. It is stated that petitioner was issued passport bearing No. F 9087556, on 11-07-2006, in which the date of birth of the petitioner was not correctly mentioned. It is stated that the said mistake crept in since the application for the passport was made through an agent. Having noticed the error in the passport, the petitioner approached the second respondent and made an application dated 12-07-2006 requesting to correct the date of birth in the passport as per the secondary school certificate issued by the Board of Secondary Education, Andhra Pradesh. As required by the respondent, the petitioner surrendered his original passport. Pursuant thereto, the respondent informed the petitioner that he is required to furnish a decree from the Civil Court for correction of the date of birth in his passport. Aggrieved by the same, this writ petition is filed with the above prayer. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and perused the material on record. In spite of service of notice, respondent did not choose to appear. It is to be noted that the Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, issued circular dated 18-04-2001, which reads 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, after 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.” Having considered the above circular, this Court in Ali Imran v. Regional Passport Officer, Secunderabad [1] held that as per the circular dated 18-04-2001, it is permissible to accept the applications for rectification/correction of the entries in the passport. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the correction of date of birth of the petitioner in the passport was only a technical correction, and therefore, it falls under clause (a) of the circular. In support of his submission the learned counsel relied upon the decision in Asra Begum v. Regional Passport Officer, Secunderabad [2]. Having regard to the facts and circumstances of the case and following the decision of this Court in Ali Imran’s case (1 supra), the writ petition is disposed of granting liberty to the petitioner to make a fresh application with relevant material to substantiate his correct date of birth, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order, and if any such application is made, the second respondent is directed to receive and consider the same in accordance with the circular dated 18-04-2001 and pass appropriate orders in accordance with law and communicate the same to the petitioner within a period of four weeks thereafter. The writ petition is accordingly, disposed of. No costs. ______________ G. ROHINI, J Dated: 20-09-2006 KLP [1] 2003(3) ALD 625; [2] 2004(6) ALD 360.