The court upheld the legal principle that the stepfather's name cannot be included in the passport of children from the previous marriage, unless appointed as a legal guardian by the court.

1. The petitioner assumes certain obstacles which do not exist. The petitioner wants his step father's name to be included in the passport along side his natural father's name by virtue of the fact that the step father will support him in education abroad. The petitioner has a further contention to make that in all the school certificates, step father's name is referred to and the same practice must be followed in the passport document. The petitioner's claim for such an entry to be made in the passport was rejected by reference to their own circular issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, dated 05.10.2009 that the father's name cannot be supplanted by step father's name merely because there is divorce obtained by the mother after the birth of a child. The circular reads thus:--

"In the event of remarriage after divorce, the name of stepfather/stepmother cannot be written in the passport of children from the previous marriage. The relationship of the child to his biological parents subsists, even after divorce by parents. It is also not possible to leave the column of father or mother blank in the passport in such cases. Therefore, such applicants must write the names of their biological parents in the application form. However, if the stepfather or stepmother is appointed by a Court as legal guardian, the name of such stepfather can be written as legal guardian."

If there is a biological father alive and the requirement in the passport application is a disclosure of the father's name, a child on whose behalf a guardian applies or an adult who applies for a passport ought to have the application drawn up only in the manner which the Passport Act and the relevant rules prescribe. If there is, therefore, a requirement to disclose the details of father's name, a person cannot have a grievance that even apart from father's name the stepfather's name will also be disclosed. Even if a person chooses to give such additional particulars in the application, there can be nothing that could compel the government to issue a passport in a format peculiarly designed for the petitioner. The instructions referred to above ought to have a meaning for the petitioner only if the petitioner is a minor and a stepfather were to be appointed as a court guardian under the provisions of either a Guardian Wards Act or in the Hindu Adoption and Guardians Act. The requirement of appointment of a guardian arises only in case of minority or any legal disability such as, mental illness. A person being supported by a stepfather cannot make him a legal guardian, for, guardianship in law is possible only to a person who has some legal disability.

2. The difficulty which the petitioner pleads for himself that educational institutions abroad will not grant admission in the absence of reference to a stepfather, is a problem which he must confront and secure appropriate proof to the University that grants admission that he will have sufficient resources to garner with the assistance of his stepfather. The requirement of a foreign University cannot dictate how the Act in India or the Rules framed under it will be drawn or how a passport will be issued. The petition is not tenable and it is dismissed.