The court emphasized the importance of giving the petitioner an opportunity to be heard before cancelling the birth certificate and highlighted the Registrar's power to rectify entries under the relevant laws.

JUDGMENT :

Heard learned counsel for the petitioner, learned counsel for the State and learned counsel for the Patna Municipal Corporation, Mr. Prasoon Sinha.

2. The present writ application has been filed seeking quashing of the order dated 28.05.2018 passed by the Registrar (Birth and Death) (hereinafter referred as the Registrar) whereby birth certificate issued vide Registration No. 33010 dated 20.05.2016 has been cancelled in pursuance of a query made by the Passport Officer and has further declared that birth certificate issued vide Registration No. 5167 dated 05.07.1998 to be valid. The order dated 28.05.2018 issued by the Registrar is challenged on the ground that it was passed behind the back of the petitioner in complete violation of the principles of the natural justice and further for a direction upon the authorities to hold that the birth certificate issued on 20.05.2016 as valid.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the situation in which the petitioner presently is, is basically the creation of her own family member when she was a minor. It is next submitted that the father of the petitioner in 1995 was working in a private sector and was transferred to Singapore by the Company, on his transfer, the family was also contemplating to shift to Singapore and hence passport was required, for which the father of the petitioner requested the maternal uncle of the petitioner for getting the date of birth certificate of the petitioner issued, as she was a minor.

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner next submits that on account of certain miscommunication, the date of birth-certificate, which was issued in the name of the petitioner, recorded her date of birth as 24.10.1988 contained in Certificate No. 279865 dated 07.08.1998 (Annexure-1), when the correct date of birth of the petitioner was 24.10.1989. It is further submitted that it appears that the maternal uncle of the petitioner without producing any valid document merely filled the form required for issuance of birth-certificate in which he, inadvertently, recorded the date of birth of the petitioner as 24.10.1988 instead of 24.10.1989 based on which Annexure-1 was issued.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner next submits that, no doubt, the birth-certificate recorded the date of birth of the petitioner as 24.10.1988, but while filling the form of Class 10th, the date of birth of the petitioner was recorded as 24.10.1989, thereafter, in all her educational document the same date of birth was recorded i.e. 24.10.1989 including her Aadhaar card, PAN card.

6. Learned counsel very fairly submits that the date of birth as disclosed before the school and college including the Aadhaar card and Pan card was based on the self-disclosure of the petitioner and was not based on the date of birth-certificate as contained in Annexure-1. It is next submitted that when petitioner realized that her date of birth-certificate contains her date of birth recorded as 24.10.1988 and the matriculation certificate along with other educational documents and Aadhaar card and PAN card records date of birth as 24.10.1989, hence, she applied afresh before the Municipal Corporation, Patna for issuance of a fresh date of birth certificate, accordingly, the Patna Municipal Corporation issued a fresh date of birth certificate dated 20.05.2016, wherein, her date of birth was recorded as 24.10.1989 contained in Certificate of Registration having No. 33010 (Annexure-3). It is next submitted that the petitioner had to go abroad for pursuing her higher studies for which a passport was required, as such, she applied for the passport but therein she disclosed both her birth certificates i.e. one which recorded her date of birth as 24.10.1988 and other one which recorded her date of birth as 24.10.1989, accordingly, the Passport Officer requested the Municipality to verify about the genuineness of the two birth certificates whereafter the Registrar after examining the documents in detail passed th