The court held that a verified date of birth by a legitimate institution overrides discrepancies in official documents when correcting passport details for a minor who has attained majority.

Headnote:(A) Passport Act, 1967 - Guidelines for Correction of Date of Birth - Petition for correction of date of birth on passport from 17th December, 1994, to 27th October, 1994, based on verification from Military Hospital - Court directed Passport Office to amend date of birth as per confirmed records and to cancel previous birth certificate within 60 days. (Paras 5, 9, 11, 12)

(B) Legal principles - Minor applicants can be exempt from penalty for changes in passport details upon reaching majority; the passport authority must accept genuine requests for corrections without requiring court orders. (Paras 9, 10)

Facts of the case:
The Petitioner, born on 27th October, 1994, faced issues in obtaining travel permissions due to discrepancies in recorded date of birth across documents. The Passport Office initially declined to amend the date without verification.

Findings of Court:
The Passport Office must amend the date of birth on the passport; the previous birth certificate should be cancelled and a new one issued reflecting the correct date.

Issues: The core issue was the acknowledgment of correct birth detail after a discrepancy in official documents.

Ratio Decidendi: The court found that confirmation from the Military Hospital sufficed for amending the passport, and it emphasized that minors should not be penalized for previous inaccuracies.

Result: Petition allowed.

Table of Content
1. incorrect date of birth affects passport issuance. (Para 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6)
2. verification of date of birth required for passport correction. (Para 7 , 8 , 9)
3. court recognizes minor's right to amend birth records. (Para 10 , 11)
4. issuance of corrected passport ordered. (Para 12 , 13 , 14 , 15)

JUDGMENT

Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)--This hearing has been done through video conferencing.

2. The Petitioner in the present case was born in the Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt., on 27th October, 1994. However, for unknown reasons, the Chief Registrar, Births and Deaths, Punjab, Chandigarh had recorded her date of birth as 17th December, 1994, in her birth certificate. The passport of the Petitioner was accordingly issued with the date of birth recorded as 17th December, 1994, though, it is the case of the Petitioner that in all her other documents, the correct date of birth is recorded as 27th October, 1994.

3. The passport of the Petitioner was issued to her way back in 2005, when she was a minor. However, since the Petitioner never required to travel abroad, no attempt was made by her to get the date of birth corrected.

4. In June, 2020, Petitioner was refused permission to appear in an examination for studies abroad, due to a mismatch in the date of birth in her passport and other documents, which is when she realised that the date of birth in her passport needs to be corrected. She then requested the Regional Passport Office, Bhikaji Cama Place, Hudco Trikoot-S, R. K. Puram, New Delhi-110066 (hereinafter `Passport Office'), repeatedly, to correct the date of birth on her passport and also made attempts to get her birth certificate corrected. However, the said request and representations were to no avail and therefore, she filed the present petition seeking amendment to date of birth in her passport.

5. The counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of the Passport Office wherein, it is clearly verified by the Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt., that her date of birth is 27th October, 1994. The relevant extract of the counter affidavit is set out below:

"xxx

4. That it is submitted that a Reply dated 31.08.2020 from the Office of the Cantonment Board, Jalandhar Cantt. has been received wherein it is stated that entry made in the certificate i.e. entry of date of birth as 17th December, 1994, with registration date 30.12.1994 bearing Reg. No.1701 is in order as per their record. On the other hand, reply dated 12.08.2020 from the Military Hospital has also been received which confirm the date of birth of the applicant as 27.10.1994."

6. The impediment that the Passport Office is stated to be facing is that whenever there is a change of date of birth to be implemented, it requires a physical verification of the cancelled birth certificate and an inspection of the fresh birth certificate by the issuing authority in terms of Chapter 3, Clause 6.3(b) of the Compendium of Instructions/Guidelines Relating to Issue of Passports in India/Abroad (hereinafter `Guidelines').

7. Mr. Aggarwal, ld. counsel for the Petitioner submits that the date of birth has been clearly verified by the Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt. and therefore, the Passport Office ought to be directed to amend the same.

8. Mr. Sahu, ld. counsel appearing for the Military Hospital, Jalandhar Cantt., as also for the Passport Office, submits that the confirmation has been received from the said hospital about the date of birth.

9. As per circular bearing No. Vl/401/2/5/2001, dated 26th November, 2015, issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, relied upon by the Petitioner, upon attaining majority, the date of birth can be amended. The relevant guideline reads:

(i) If an applicant applies for the change of date of birth in the passport within a reasonable period of time i.e. within a span or five (5) years from the date of issue of passport having the alleged wrong date of birth, with the birth certificate issued by the Registrar o

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