IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE SEVENTEENTH DAY OF JULY TWO THOUSAND AND NINE PRESENT THE HON'BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION NO : 14217 of 2009 Between: O. Aditi Reddy D/o. O. Manohar Reddy R/o. 390 / 3RT, Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar, Hyderabad. Rep. by his Father O. Manohar Reddy, Advocate, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONER AND The Union of India Rep. by its Regional Passport Officer Ministry of External Affairs, Regional Passport Office, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. .....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 considering the correction of the date of birth as "26-07-1991" instead of "26-06-1991" at the time of renewal of passport bearing No.E4778693 as illegal, arbitrary. Counsel for the Petitioner:MR.S.V.RAMANA Counsel for the Respondent No.: MR.PENJURIVENUGOPAL The Court made the following : THE HON’BLE MS JUSTICE G.ROHINI WRIT PETITION No : 14217 of 2009 ORDER: The petitioner herein was issued passport bearing No.E4778693 which was valid up to 6.4.2008. Thereafter, the petitioner while seeking the renewal of the passport made a request to rectify the entry relating to the date of birth. It is stated by the petitioner that her date of birth was wrongly mentioned in the passport as 26.6.1991 instead of 26.7.1991. Accordingly, the petitioner has requested to renew his passport by rectifying the mistake in the entry with regard to the date of birth. It is stated that the respondent refused to entertain the petitioner’s request insisting upon the production of a declaratory order from a competent Civil Court. Aggrieved by the said action, the 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 writ petition is disposed of permitting the petitioner to make an appropriate application before the respondent for renewal of her passport by correcting the entry with regard to her date of birth along with the relevant material to establish the correct date of birth. If any such application is made the respondent is directed to receive the application and 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. _______________ Justice G.Rohini Date: 17.07.2009 Note: Issue CC today. B/O mrb