Point of Law: Action of the concerned authority, is erroneous inasmuch as, the authority is obligated to undertake the exercise laid down by the provisions of Section 15 of the Act of 1969 read with Rule 11 of the Rules of 2004 framed by the State Government with regard to correction of entries as sought for and after verifying the relevant material that may be produced by the applicant carry out the correction, which it failed to do so.

ORDER :

1. By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner, has prayed for quashing and setting aside the communication/order dated 22.03.2021 passed by the Registrar, Birth and Death Department, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the “Registrar”) whereby, the request of the petitioner for change of name in the Birth Certificate of his son, has been rejected relying upon the Circular dated 18.02.2016 issued by the Chief Registrar, Births and Deaths & Commissioner (Health), Gandhinagar, State of Gujarat.

2. Briefly stated are the facts:

2.1 The petitioner is father of a minor child namely “Neev”, aged about 4 years and his date of birth is 24.03.2017. The Birth Certificate bearing Registration No.2017-BW-0210-0000489 was issued; however, the Birth Certificate carry the name of the son of the petitioner as “Neer Niravkumar Thakkar”.

2.2 According to the petitioner, the name of his son is “Neev Niravkumar Thakkar” and not “Neer Niravkumar Thakkar”. Apropos the steps taken by the petitioner for change in name, the Gujarat Government Gazette was published on 05.07.2018 whereby, the name of the son of the petitioner, has been corrected from “Thakkar Neer Niravkumar” to “Thakkar Neev Niravkumar”.

2.3 Since the name of the son of the petitioner, was not mentioned correctly in the Birth certificate, the petitioner approached the competent authority for the purpose of correction of name in the Birth Certificate. The said application, was in warded on 12.01.2021. Along with the application, the petitioner has also annexed documentary evidence such as Birth Certificate, Aadhar Card, affidavits of the petitioner and his wife and publication of Gujarat Government Gazette dated 05.07.2018. 2.4 The Registrar, vide communication/order dated 22.03.2021, refused the request of the petitioner for change of name relying upon the Circular dated 18.02.2016 issued by the Chief Registrar, Births and Deaths & Commissioner (Health), Gandhinagar, State of Gujarat. Being aggrieved, the petitioner has filed the captioned writ petition with the aforementioned prayer.

3. Mr.Nishit P. Gandhi, learned advocate appearing for the petitioner submitted that the name of the son of the petitioner, has been incorrectly recorded in the Birth Certificate. It is submitted that instead of “Neev Niravkumar Thakkar”, the name recorded is “Neer Niravkumar Thakkar”. It is submitted that the correct name of the son of the petitioner, is “Neev Niravkumar Thakkar” and not “Neer Niravkumar Thakkar”. Reliance is placed on the documentary evidence namely the Aadhar Card, the Gujarat Government Gazette and the affidavits of the petitioner and the wife of the petitioner.

3.1 It is submitted that the communication/order dated 22.03.2021, has been passed by the Registrar wrongly placing the reliance on the Circular dated 18.02.2016 inasmuch as, Section 15 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 (hereinafter referred to as the “Act of 1969”) obliges the competent authority to correct the entry of birth in any register kept by him under the Act. It is submitted that Rule 11 of the Gujarat Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 2004 (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules of 2004”) provides for correction or cancellation of entry in the register of births and deaths. It is submitted that if it is reported to the Registrar that the clerical or formal error has been made in the register, it is incumbent upon the Registrar to inquire into the matter and if satisfied that any such error has been made, he shall correct the error by correcting or cancelling the entry as provided in Section 15 of the Act of 1969. It is therefore submitted that provisions of Section 15 read in juxtaposition with the provisions of Rule 11 of Rules of 2004, the Registrar is under an obligation to correct the name in the Birth Certificate of the son of the petitioner; however, the Registrar, has rejected the application only relying upon the provisions