IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE TWENTY THIRD DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE N.V. RAMANA WRIT PETITION No.20398 of 2009 Between: Nucchu Gangaram ..... PETITIONER AND Union of India, rep.by its Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi and another. .....RESPONDENTS ORDER: The petitioner states that he holds Indian Passport bearing No.B-38094 issued by the second respondent on 31.08.1991; that the date of birth is wrongly mentioned as 04.02.1968 instead of 04.02.1972 and that the SSC Certificate supports his actual date of birth. He therefore claims to have approached the second respondent and made a representation, dated 04.09.2009, to the second respondent, enclosing a copy of the SSC Certificate, with a request to correct the date of birth in the Passport and for renewal of the same. However, it is his grievance that the second respondent refused to receive the same on the ground that he should obtain a declaratory decree from the Court. He, therefore, seeks appropriate direction in this regard. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner. It is required to notice that there is no provision under the Passports Act, 1967, which empowers the Regional Passport Officer to correct entries in the Passport. However, pursuant to the judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, in W.P.No.1072 of 2000, the Government of India issued instructions/clarifications in Circular dated 18.04.2001, which are to the following effect: (a) Where an applicant is seeking rectification/correction of a mistake in the entry on date of birth/place of birth in the passport, PIA (Passport Issuing Authority) may after verifying/satisfying himself, effect 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 i.e., school/educational 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. As of today, if any request for correction of date of birth in the Passport is made, the Passport Issuing Authority is required to follow the aforementioned instructions. In that view of the matter, I deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition with the following directions: The second respondent is directed to consider the application of the petitioner dated 04.09.2009 for correction of date of birth in the Passport/issuance of fresh Passport, and process the same after verifying the genuineness or otherwise thereof basing on the documents the petitioner may file in support of his case for change of date of birth, in the light of the aforementioned guidelines, and pass appropriate orders. With the above directions, the writ petition is disposed of. No costs. ___________________ N.V. RAMANA, J. Date:23.09.2009 VGB