IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE P.N.RAVINDRAN FRIDAY, THE 21ST JANUARY 2011 / 1ST MAGHA 1932 WP(C).No. 22222 of 2010(C) ------------------------- PETITIONER : -------------------- THOMAS JACOB, VARAVANNOOR VEEDU, KIZHAKKENCHERI, ALATHUR, PALAKKAD DISTRICT. BY ADVS. SRI.S.SANAL KUMAR SMT.BHAVANA VELAYUDHAN RESPONDENT(S): ------------------------- 1. THE REGISTRAR OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS/ SECRETARY, PULINKUNNU GRAMA PANCHAYATH, PULINKUNNU P.O., ALAPPUZHA. 2. THE STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO THE LOCAL ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. 3. THE CHIEF REGISTRAR OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. R1 BY ADV. SRI.R.AZAD BABU THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD ON 14/09/2010, THE COURT ON 21/01/2011 DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: Mn ...2/- WP(C).No. 22222 of 2010(C) APPENDIX PETITIONER'S EXHIBITS: EXT.P1 : COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE ST. MARY'S FORANE CHURCH, PULINKUNNU DATED 4-1-2010. EXT.P2 : COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE SSLC BOOK. EXT.P3 : COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGES OF THE PASSPORT. EXT.P4 : COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE ISSUED BY THE VILLAGE OFFICER, KIZHAKKENCHERI. EXT.P5 : COPY OF THE APPLICATION DATED 5-1-2010. EXT.P6 : COPY OF THE RECEIPT EVIDENCING THE SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION DATED 5-1-2010. EXT.P7 : COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 22-1-2010. EXT.P8 : COPY OF THE JUDGMENT OF THIS HONOURABLE COURT IN WPC NO. 3154/2010. EXT.P9 : COPY OF THE RECEIPT ISSUED BY THE 1ST RESPONDENT. EXT.P10 : COPY OF THE COMMUNICATION DATED 24-4-2010. EXT.P11 : COPY OF THE ORDER DATED 7-6-2010. EXT.P12 : COPY OF THE ENVELOPE SHOWING THE DATE OF DISPATCH OF POSTAL ARTICLE. RESPONDENT'S EXHIBITS: EXT.R1(a) : COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGE OF THE REGISTER OF BIRTH & DEATH RELATING TO JOSHWA THOMAS JACOB. //TRUE COPY// P.S. TO JUDGE Mn P.N. RAVINDRAN, J. ------------------------------- W.P.(C) No.22222 of 2010 ------------------------------- Dated this the 21st day of January, 2011 J U D G M E N T The petitioner is the father of Sri.Joshwa Thomas Jacob who is presently employed as a Software Engineer in the United States of America. The petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was born on 1.9.1981 at Pulinkunnu in the State of Kerala and he was baptised on 21.9.1981. In the school records also, the said date (1.9.1981) was given as the date of birth as can be seen from Ext.P2, a copy of the secondary school leaving certificate. In the passport issued to the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, a copy of which is produced as Ext.P3, the date of birth is given as 1.9.1981. However, it appears that when the birth of the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was registered, his date of birth was given as 8.9.1981 and his name as Joseph Thomas Jacob. With a view of enable the petitioner's son to apply for a Green card, the petitioner applied for and obtained a birth certificate from the first respondent. Since in the Register of Births, the date of birth of the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was entered as 8.9.1981, the petitioner, on behalf of his son, submitted Ext.P5 application before the first respondent requesting him to correct the date of birth from 8.9.1981 to 1.9.1981. He also applied for correction of the name of his son from Joseph Thomas Jacob to Joshwa W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 2 Thomas Jacob. By Ext.P7 order dated 22.1.2010, the first respondent allowed the correction of name, but declined to correct the date of birth. The petitioner thereupon filed W.P.(C) No.3154 of 2010 in this Court challenging Ext.P7 order. By Ext.P8 judgment delivered on 8.1.2010, a learned single Judge of this Court directed the first respondent to reconsider the application for correction of date of birth, with reference to the documents produced by the petitioner and to pass orders thereon, within four weeks from the date of production of a copy of the judgment. The first respondent thereafter passed Ext.P11 order dated 7.6.2010 again rejecting the application for correction of the date of birth. The first respondent held that as the date of birth was reported by the hospital authorities as 8.9.1981 and the hospital is presently defunct, he is not in a position to correct the date of birth. Ext.P11 is under challenge in this writ petition. 2. The petitioner contends that the order passed by the first respondent runs counter to the provisions contained in section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act 1969 and rule 12 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1970. It is contended that as the identity of the petitioner's son is not in dispute and the school records and passport disclose that his date of birth is 1.9.1981, the first respondent ought to have corrected the date of birth as 1.9.1981 W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 3 and issued a certified extract from the Register of Births to the petitioner. 3. The first respondent has filed a counter affidavit dated 16.8.2010. It is stated that the entries in the school records or in the passport cannot be relied on to contend that the entry in the Register of Births is erroneous as that the said entry was made on the basis of intimation received from the hospital authorities. It is contended that the Baptism Certificate or the school records cannot be relied on to correct the date of birth of the petitioner's son, as the entry has not been proved to be mistakenly made. 4. I heard Sri.S.Sanal Kumar, the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and Sri.R.Azad Babu, the learned standing counsel appearing for the first respondent. I have also gone through the pleadings and the materials on record. It is evident from Ext.P1 Baptism Certificate, Ext.P2 Secondary School Leaving Certificate and Ext.P3 Passport that the date of birth of the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, is 1.9.1981. The petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was born in Matha Hospital, Pulinkunnu. The said hospital is presently defunct. It was based on the information given from that hospital that the birth of the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was registered. It is now well settled by W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 4 a series of decisions of this Court including the decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Chalakudy Municipality v. Malavika (2009 (4) KLT 714) that the Registrar of Births and Deaths is empowered to correct wrong entries in the Register of Births. The Division Bench of the Court in the above said case, after noticing the provisions of the Act and the Rules, held as follows:- “The law does not contemplate a person to have a wrong name in the register or a mistaken identity in the register or to have wrong particulars regarding the date, place etc. in the register of birth or death. It is also to be noted that the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 does not create or extinguish any right; the Act is intended only to regulate the process and procedures of registration of births and deaths and the correction of any such entry. Once the Act permits such correction earlier in form or substance, the Rules are intended only to regulate the procedure and not to prohibit such correction.” The Division Bench noticed that the law does not contemplate a person to have wrong particulars regarding the date of birth and that the Act or the Rules do not prohibit correction of the entry regarding the date of birth. In the instant case, Ext.P1 Baptism Certificate issued by the Vicar of St.Mary's Forane Church, Pulinkunnu, discloses that a male child was born to the petitioner and his wife Mary on 1.9.1981 and that he was baptised on 21.9.1981. W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 5 The said date of birth was given in the school records and also in the Passport of the petitioner's son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob. The date of birth of the petitioner's son was all along treated as 1.9.1981. The petitioner's son is now compelled to produce a certified extract of the Register of Births in order to enable him to apply for a Green card to settle in the United States of America, where he is presently employed. The date of birth in the Register of Births does not tally with the date of birth in the other records. The petitioner was therefore constrained to seek correction of the date of birth in the Register of Births. As noticed by the Division Bench of this Court in Chalakudy Municipality v. Malavika (supra), the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 does not create or extinguish any right, but is intended only to regulate the process and procedure for registration of births and deaths and the provisions therein cannot stand in the way of corrections being made to entries regarding the name, date of birth, place of birth etc. The first respondent does not state the entry in the Baptism certificate cannot be relied on. All that he has stated is that as the hospital where the petitioner's son was born has reported that the petitioner's son was born on 8.9.1981, in the absence of a letter from the hospital authorities, a change in the date cannot be effected. It is evident from the order passed by the first W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 6 respondent that the hospital is presently defunct. The first respondent has however stated that if a letter is received from the hospital that the date of birth was erroneously reported, the date of birth can be corrected. In such circumstances, as the first respondent admits that the hospital is now defunct, I am of the opinion that the first respondent should have acted on the declaration made by the petitioner as a declaration made by a credible person. As per Rule 12(4) of the Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1970, where two credible persons make a declaration regarding the date of birth of a person, the Registrar of Births and Deaths can act on that declaration and effect necessary changes in the Register of Births and Deaths. It is true that the original entry cannot be deleted. All that the Registrar can do is to make a suitable entry in the margin without any alteration of the original entry if he is satisfied that the entry regarding the date of birth is erroneous in form or substance. In such circumstances, as the petitioner and his wife who are the parents of Sri.Joshwa Thomas Jacob assert and declare that he was born on 1.9.1981 and not on 8.9.1981, I am of the opinion that the first respondent ought to have asked for such a declaration and taken necessary steps to correct the entry regarding the date of birth in the Register of Births and Deaths. W.P.(C) No.22222/2010 7 4. I accordingly quash Ext.P11 and direct that in the event of the petitioner and his wife (parents of Sri.Joshwa Thomas Jacob) submitting a joint declaration in the form of an affidavit attested by a notary to the effect that their son, Joshwa Thomas Jacob, was born on 1.9.1981 and not on 8.9.1981, the Registrar of Births and Deaths shall cause an enquiry to be conducted and shall make necessary entries in the Register of Births and Deaths, if after such enquiry, he is satisfied that the date of birth of Joshwa Thomas Jacob should be corrected as prayed for by the petitioner, and issue a certified extract from the corrected Register of Births to the petitioner. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of one month from the date on which the petitioner and his wife submit a joint declaration as stated above. P.N. RAVINDRAN, JUDGE. nj.