Passport authorities must allow corrections to personal details based on valid birth certificates, regardless of delay, if genuineness is established, ensuring administrative fairness.

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)--This hearing has been done through hybrid mode (physical and virtual hearing).

2. The Petitioner has filed this petition seeing directions for amending the place of birth in his passport, issued by the Regional Passport Office, Delhi.

3. The Petitioner is the holder of the passport bearing No. H9634228, which is valid from 22nd March, 2010 to 21st March, 2020. At the time when he had applied for his passport, the said passport was issued with his place of birth being shown as `Delhi'. The case of the Petitioner is that he did not realise that there was a mistake in the place of birth mentioned in the passport. Sometime in 2013, when the Petitioner is stated to have decided to travel abroad for the first time, he realised that the place of birth on his passport was incorrect. The Petitioner applied on 28th June 2013, seeking correction of his place of birth in the passport, before the Regional Passport Office, Delhi, however he was asked to produce a birth certificate under Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, from the place he was born. Thereafter, the Petitioner re-applied for the issue of the said passport with the rectified place of birth on 26th November 2015, on the strength of the birth certificate issued by the Office of the Registrar of Births and Death, Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Government of Uttaranchal on 9th June 2014. The passport authorities, however, have refused to change the place of birth of the Petitioner vide letter dated 29th December, 2016, without giving any reasons for the same. Hence the present petition has been filed.

4. Ld. counsel for the Petitioner, in his submissions, relies upon the birth certificate of the Petitioner issued on 9th June, 2014 by the Office of the Registrar of Births and Death, Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Government of Uttaranchal, which shows the Petitioner's place of birth as "Kargona of Tahsil/Block Bhikiyashen of District Almora of State/Union territory Uttarakhand." He submits that the Petitioner has never travelled using the passport which had the wrong place of birth. Ld. counsel further submits that the Petitioner, being a High Court employee, had mentioned his correct place of birth in his employment application to the High Court. He submits that since only an inadvertent error has taken place, the same ought to be allowed to be rectified. Ld. counsel finally submits that an affidavit dated 7th January 2016, in terms of the demand of the passport authorities, confirming the correct place of birth, was also filed with the passport authorities, however, the concerned passport authority refused to amend the said passport on the ground that the Ministry of External Affairs' order does not permit a change in place of birth on the passport. He relies upon two judgments of this court in :

i) Sunita Sawhney v. Union of India, (WP(C) 10839/2015, decided on 3rd December, 2015)

ii) Nisha Kamboj v. Regional Passport Officer, Delhi, (10789/2015, decided on 11th February, 2016)

5. Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh, ld. counsel appearing for the Respondents, submits that counter affidavit has been filed. As per the said counter affidavit, the stand of the passport authorities is that once information is submitted with the said authority, the applicant confirms the accuracy of the said information and thus, applicants cannot be allowed to continuously keep changing the said information. It is the Respondents case that there was no justification for giving the wrong place of birth initially itself.

6. Heard ld. counsels for the parties. The Passport Authority, appears to have relied upon the office memorandum dated 26t