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HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
V. RAMASUBRAMANIAN, J.
B.S. Deepa
Versus
The Regional Passport Officer & Another
Writ Petition No. 29105 of 2014 & M.P. No. 1 of 2014
Decided on : 23-01-2015
Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 - Section 12 – Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 7 - Issue a passport - Dissolved by a decree of divorce – Claim of compensation - Petitioner married one and marriage was registered in Office of Sub-Registrar - A baby girl was born in wedlock - Marriage was short-lived and it was dissolved by a decree of divorce granted by Second Additional Family Court by a decree - Since former husband of petitioner did not file any appeal or revision against decree attained finality - Petitioner is having custody of minor child for past without any claim by her former husband - After decree of divorce petitioner changed name of her daughter - Change of name was also published in Government Gazette - After about ten years of decree of divorce petitioner married one according to Hindu Customary rites and practices - Marriage was registered in Office of Sub-Registrar - According to petitioner she gave her minor daughter in adoption to her new husband and same was also evidenced by a deed of adoption registered - According to petitioner adoption deed was witnessed by parents of petitioner - After alleged adoption petitioner changed her daughter’s name and change of name was also published in Tamil Nadu Government Gazette – Held, Cases of children surrendered to child care homes or abandoned by their biological parents do not pose great difficulty - In such cases first identity itself is born only when Court passes an order approving local or inter-country adoption - Since such adoptions are now well regulated by earliest decision of Supreme Court and various guidelines issued by Government of India Courts passing orders in terms of provisions of Guardians and Wards Act themselves issue appropriate directions to Passport Office to include names of adoptive parents in passport issued to child – But as stated earlier children in such cases happen to be those abandoned by their biological parents - Therefore there is no chance of any discrepancy between different types of certificates - But cases such as one on hand pose a lot of difficulties as court have pointed out earlier - While Courts are certainly obliged to take care of immediate interests of these children by giving certain directions to Passport Office Courts cannot overlook long-term needs and rights of these children - For instance right of a child to inherit estate of its biological father will get defeated by a direction to effect correction of entries in statutory records – Therefore court of view that Ministry of External Affairs is obliged to come up with innovative steps and measures to resolve problems of this nature - Passport Manual may perhaps have to be amended suitably to incorporate additional columns in applications for issue of passports - Apart from columns where names of biological parents are to be indicated application form may also contain additional columns where names of step-parents could be indicated wherever applicable - This will reduce or even eliminate possibility of any discrepancy between entries in Birth Register and School Records or other records - Such a step as suggested above will also ensure that rights guaranteed to children under United Nations Convention on Rights of Child 1989 to which India is a signatory are protected - While it is necessary to secure a passport for minor daughter of petitioner at earliest it is also necessary to ensure that emergent needs do not destroy future rights of child – Therefore court of view that writ petition could be disposed of with certain directions both to Union of India and to respondents herein so that persons similarly placed like petitioner are not compelled to approach Court every time for issue of passports - Writ petition is disposed of
1. The petitioner, who is the mother of a minor girl by name Sruthi, has come up with the above writ petition seeking the issue of a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to issue a passport for her daughter, mentioning the name of the adoptive father of the minor girl.
2. I have heard Mr. G.K.Muthukumaar, learned Counsel for the petitioner and Mr. N.Ramesh, learned Central Government Standing Counsel appearing for the respondents.
3. The petitioner married one M.Irudayaraj and the marriage was registered in the Office of the Sub-Registrar, Ambattur on 14.09.1998. A baby girl was born in the wedlock on 20.06.2001. The baby was named as "I.Karenshruthi" .
4. The marriage was short-lived and it was dissolved by a decree of divorce granted by the Second Additional Family Court, Chennai in F.C.O.P. No.1977 of 2002, by a decree dated 21.07.2003. Since the former husband of the petitioner did not file any appeal or revision against the decree, the decree attained finality. The petitioner is having the custody of the minor child for the past about 13 years, without any claim by her former husband.
5. After the decree of divorce, the petitioner changed the name of her daughter from "I.Karenshruthi" to "D.Sruthi". The change of name was also published in the Government Gazette.
6. After about 10 years of the decree of divorce, the petitioner married one R.Lakshmanan according to Hindu Customary rites and practices. The marriage was registered in the Office of the Sub-Registrar, Perambur on 03.12.2013.
7. According to the petitioner, she gave her minor daughter in adoption to her new husband R.Lakshmanan and the same was also evidenced by a deed of adoption registered on 09.04.2014. According to the petitioner, the adoption deed was witnessed by the parents of the petitioner. After the alleged adoption, the petitioner changed her daughter's name from "D.Sruthi" to "L.Sruthi" and the change of name was also published in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.
8. The petitioner as well as her husband are employed in the software industry and they are liable to travel abroad frequently. The petitioner wants to take her minor daughter out of India, whenever she is obliged to go out. Therefore, she applied for a passport for her daughter, on 10.07.2014. The passport application was taken on record and assigned a File Number. Though the respondents would normally process an application within 30 days, they did not do in the instant case. Therefore, the petitioner made enquiries and she found out that the application was kept pending on account of the discrepancy between the name of the biological father and the name of the father indicated in the application form. Hence, the petitioner has come up with the above writ petition, seeking the issue of a writ of mandamus to direct the respondents to issue passport to her daughter indicating the name of the adoptive father.
9. But unfortunately for the petitioner, there appears to be a circular bearing No.VI/401/01/05/2008 dated 5.10.2009 issued by the respondents, to the effect that the name of the step father or stepmother of a child cannot be written in the passport of the children. Therefore, it is contended by the learned Central Government Standing Counsel that though there could be a divorce between the husband and the wife, there cannot be a severance of the relationship between the parents and a child. Hence, the learned Central Government Standing Counsel contended that it may not be possible to change the name of the father of the minor child, as the same may conflict with the name indicated in the birth certificate of the child.
10. However, the learned counsel for the petitioner relies upon a decision of the Kerala High Court, a decision of this Court and a decision of the Delhi High Court, in support of his contention that it is possible to effect the change of name of the father of the minor child.
11. In Babu Thomas Vs. Regional Passport Officer [W.P.(Civil) No.29842 of 2012 decide
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