Point of Law: None of the parties could bring to the notice of this Court any legal prohibition in incorporating the name of a non-citizen as the legal guardian in the passport of a minor child.

JUDGMENT :

‘We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today’. The above words of Stacia Tauscher, an Irish artist can give insight, while resolving the issue that arises for consideration in this case.

2. Petitioner is a minor girl who has approached this Court seeking a direction for issuing a passport to her without insisting on the consent from her biological father. She also seeks directions to issue the passport to her, including details of her stepfather.

3. The parents of the petitioner dissolved their marriage by mutual consent through a compromise decree from the Family Court, Ernakulam. Despite the mother of the petitioner being an American citizen, she was appointed as the legal guardian, with visitorial rights given to the father, subject to the mutual convenience of parties. After the dissolution of marriage, petitioner's mother remarried and she intends to take the petitioner abroad to live along with her. For the said purpose, when an application for obtaining a passport was submitted, the passport issuing authority-second respondent, insisted on the consent/permission from petitioner's biological father and refused to accept the application, without the said consent. According to the petitioner, her parents had been living apart since 2011, and in such circumstances, compelling the petitioner to produce the consent of the biological father is not legally required. An additional affidavit has been filed by the mother of the petitioner stating that petitioner was born on 06.12.2011 at Adoor in Kerala and that petitioner possesses an Aadhar Card also. It is asserted that petitioner is an Indian citizen by birth. Petitioner has also pleaded that her mother, though a citizen of United States, has been registered as an Overseas Citizen of India.

4. A statement has been filed by the second respondent pleading that as per the Passport Manual, 2020, if visitation rights have been granted as per court orders, consent of the other parent is required to process the application for issuance of a passport to a minor and that, if one of the parents willfully refuse to give consent or inordinately delays grant of consent, the passport can be issued to the child, after receipt of an affidavit in the form of Annexure-C obtained from the parent having the custody of the child. The second respondent further averred that the mother of the petitioner is not a citizen of India and from the marriage certificate attached, it is revealed that she is a citizen of the United States of America while the stepfather is a citizen of Canada. The second respondent further pleaded that as per the Passport Manual, when one parent has renounced the Indian citizenship and the other parent is still an Indian citizen, the citizenship of the minor shall be of that person who has legal custody of that minor child and the eligibility of an Indian passport will be determined on the basis of the guardian’s citizenship. It was further mentioned that, if both parents have renounced their Indian citizenship and acquired foreign citizenship, the minor child will cease to be an Indian citizen and hence will not be eligible for an Indian passport.

5. According to the second respondent, they have no information regarding the citizenship of the biological father of the petitioner and that if the name of the stepfather is required to be incorporated in the passport, various documents are required to be submitted. The documents for such purpose will include a self-declaration that the minor does not want to have the name of the biological father incorporated in the passport, two educational/public documents where the name of the stepfather is mentioned, the registered certificate of remarriage and in the case of death of the biological father, the death certificate. The passport authority further pleaded that in order to confirm the citizenship of the petitioner and her eligibility to be issued with an Indian passport, the father