IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY SEVENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 14865 of 2009 Between: Jutur Dinendra S/o Jutur Krishna Murthy Municipal No 7-1-307/42 and 43 Saipriya Apartments Flat No 05 J.P Nagar,Santhanagar Hyderabad-500018 ..... PETITIONER AND The Union of India Ministry of External Affairs Regional Passport Office,Hyderabad Andhra Pradesh,Rep.by its Regional 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 of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or direction declaring the action of the respondent in not receiving the application of for the renewal of passport on the ground that the date of Birth mentioned in the passport differs from the Secondary School Certificate as illegal, arbitrary and consequently direct the respondent to renew the passport of the petitioner by correcting the date of birth as " 22-01-1969" instead of "21-01-1968 as per Secondary School Certificate other or further Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.S.V.RAMANA Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.A.RAJASHEKAR REDDY (ASST SOLICITOR GEN) The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No : 14865 of 2009 O R D E R : The petitioner herein was issued passport bearing No. Y583335 on 17.02.1987, which expired on 16.02.1997. While taking steps for getting the passport renewed, it was observed by the petitioner that his date of birth was wrongly recorded in the passport as 21.01.1968 instead of 22.01.1969. In the circumstances, in his application for renewal of passport, the petitioner also sought for correction relating to his date of birth. Such request has not been entertained by the respondent insisting upon the declaratory order from the competent civil Court. I have 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. 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 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: 27-07-2009 KLP