Mother with custody may obtain minor's passport without father's consent, subject to no-travel-without-consent condition.

ORDER

The present Writ Petition has been filed seeking a direction to respondents 2 & 3 to renew and reissue the Passport of the minor child Harshvardhan, bearing Passport No.V1296216, pursuant to Application Reference No.26-1051642946, without insisting upon the consent of 4^th Respondent, the father of the minor child.

2. The petitioner herein is the wife of the 4^th respondent. The petitioner being the mother and the natural guardian, had applied for renewal and re- issuance of passport in respect of her minor son namely Harshvardhan, aged about 6 years as the passport of the minor child is due to expire on 05.07.2026. However, the said application has been kept pending by the respondent authorities insisting upon the consent of the 4^th respondent/ the father of the minor child. The grievance of the petitioner is that due to personal disputes between the petitioner and the 4^th respondent, the 4^th respondent is refusing to give consent for grant of passport in respect of their minor child. Therefore, the petitioner left no other alternative and efficacious remedy, has filed the present Writ Petition seeking the aforesaid relief.

3. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that, when the minor child is under the custody of the petitioner pursuant to the decree of divorce passed by the Family Court Chennai, the act of the respondents in holding the passport of the minor child insisting on the consent of the father is wholly arbitrary and illegal. Accordingly, he prayed this Court to pass appropriate orders.

4. On the above contention, this Court heard the learned counsel appearing for respondents 1 to 3.

5. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case and also the submission made by the learned counsel for the petitioner that the 4^th respondent has not provided consent for grant of passport in respect of their minor child, this Court, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case, deems it appropriate to permit the respondents to issue notice to the 4^th respondent with regard to grant of consent. In the event, the 4^th respondent does not give the consent for issuance of passport in respect of the minor child, the respondents authorities shall proceed with issuance of passport in the name of the petitioner clearly stipulating in the passport that the petitioner would not be eligible to overseas with the minor child without submitting a letter of consent from the 4^th respondent/the father of the child. The entire exercise shall be completed within a period of three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order.

M.DHANDAPANI, J.

NHS

6. With the above observation and direction, this Writ Petition stands disposed of. There shall be no order as to costs.