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 : 14943 of 2009 Between: Katta Kalpana Devi W/o.Katta Narasimha Reddy R/o.H.No.8-02-686/C/F/6, Road No.12, Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND The Regional Passport Officer, Passport Office, 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 order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring the action of the Respondent in not considering the request of the petitioner to correct the date of birth in the passport is illegal and arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of Constitution of India, and consequently direct the Respondent to correct petitioner's date of birth as 11.7.1955 instead of 1.7.1955 entered in the relevant column in the petitioner passport bearing No.H 4535029 dated 7.7.2009. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.SHANKAR BHEEMANATHI Counsel for the Respondent : MR.PENJURI VENUGOPAL The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.14943 OF 2009 ORDER : This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the action of the respondent in not considering the request of the petitioner to correct the date of birth in the passport as illegal and arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and consequently direct the respondent to correct petitioner’s date of birth as 11.07.1955 instead of 01.07.1955 entered in the relevant column in the petitioner passport bearing No.H 4535029 dated 07.07.2009. The petitioner herein was issued Passport No.H 4535029 on 07.07.2009. However, it was found that the petitioner’s date of birth was wrongly mentioned in the passport as 01.07.1955 instead of 11.07.1955. It is pleaded by the petitioner that though she made an application requesting the respondent-Regional Passport Officer to correct the entry relating to her date of birth in the passport, her request has not been considered by the respondent insisting her to obtain a declaratory order from the competent court. Challenging the said action, this writ petition is filed. 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 impugned order is set aside and 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. Dt.27.07.2009 Rns ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1) 2 CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KURR}