P.N. Ravindran, J.

The Regional Passport Officer, Cochin had on 23.4.1983 issued a passport bearing No. U159810 to the petitioner, then a minor, wherein her date of birth was shown as 29.4.1974. After the validity of the said passport expired, the petitioner submitted an application dated 30.3.2009 under the Tatkal scheme for the issue of a new passport. Along with the said application, the passport initially issued to the petitioner on 23.4.1983 was also enclosed. In the application for a new passport, the petitioner had given her date of birth as 29.4.1975 instead of 29.4.1974, the date of birth given in the earlier passport. The petitioner states that she was born on 29.4.1975 and that in the school records and in the driving licence issued to her, her date of birth is shown as 29.4.1975, which is her correct date of birth. On noticing the disparity in the date of birth, the Passport Officer called upon the petitioner to furnish particulars regarding the correct date of birth. It is submitted that the petitioner thereupon went over to the Regional Passport Office, Cochin and clarified that the application on which a passport was issued to her on 23.4.1983 was one submit