THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.5097 OF 2007 19th June, 2007 Between: Basheer Ahmed …. Petitioner. And The Regional Passport Officer, Passport Office, Hyderabad, having Office at Secunderabad. .. Respondent. THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.5097 OF 2007 ORDER: The petitioner herein was issued a passport bearing No.A- 2159096 dated 22.10.1996 which stood expired on 21-10-2006. In the circumstances, he approached the respondent for renewal of passport and since in the passport initially granted his date of birth was wrongly shown as 10-5-1965 instead of 21-08-1972, he also sought for correction of his date of birth. Since the said request was not considered by the respondent, this writ petition has been filed. I have heard the learned Counsel for the petitioner. Despite 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, 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.” 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 is 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 plea, within a period of two weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order. If any such application is made, the 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.) 19th June, 2007. gbs [1] 2003(3) ALD 625; [2] 2004(6) ALD 360.