IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE NAGESH BHEEMAPAKA WRIT PETITION No.3442 of 2026

31^st March, 2026 Between:

Sriram Bharath, S/o Bharaiah Sriram … Petitioner AND

1. Union of India, rep. by its Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, and another … Respondents

ORDER

The case of the petitioner, precisely as per the writ affidavit, is that he submitted an application before the 2^nd respondent-passport authority seeking rectification of the error in his Date of Birth, however, the passport authority vide letter dated 10.12.2025 refused to make corrections in the Date of Birth printed in his passport. Hence, this writ petition.

2. Heard Mr. P. Vinay Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioner, and Mr. B. Jithender, learned Standing Counsel representing Mr. N. Bhujanga Rao, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India, appearing for the respondents.

Perused the record.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner’s actual date of birth is 26.10.1984, whereas the Date of Birth is printed as issuance of passport and his application was handled by others, and thereafter his passport was subsequently renewed for four times, however, the illegality cannot be allowed to continue by retaining incorrect data in his passport. It is contended that a clerical error that has occurred at the time of first issuance cannot be allowed to continue merely because the passport was renewed subsequently with the same data. It is contended that the passport authority cannot rigidly enforce the “5 year” rule, or cite that “24 years” have passed since the date of first issuance, so as to deny the correction of date of birth.

4. Per contra, learned Standing Counsel refers to the Office Memorandum dated 26.11.2025 issued by the 1^st respondent-Ministry of External Affairs, providing guidelines on the change / correction of date of birth entries in the already issued passport. Learned Standing Counsel, by referring to Paragraph No. 4(ii) of the said Office Memorandum contends that if there is a clerical / technical mistake on the part of the applicant or the passport authority, with regard to the entry relating to place/date of birth, the same would be corrected within a reasonable time (i.e., within 5 years), as per Circular No.VI/401/2/5/2001 dated 29.10.2007, by imposing a penalty. It is contended thatthe petitioner declares his actual date of birth as 26.10.1984, and that his date of birth has been incorrectly printed as 26.10.1981 and that he was a minor at the time of first issuance of the passport. It is contended that the petitioner, after attaining majority, applied for a passport in 2007, (he was almost 23 years old by that timeeven as per the new date of birth i.e., 26.10.1984), and the petitioner cannot seek corrections in the passport after two decades.

5. Having considered the respective contentions and perused the record, at the outset, the petitioner’s grievance is that his date of birth has been incorrectly printed in his passport as 26.10.1981, when his actual date of birth issuance, he could not get the same corrected. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the 2^nd respondent-passport authority seeking correction of the date of birth, by enclosing the Birth Certificate, Voter ID, Aadhar Card etc., in support of his correct date of birth. However, the passport authority refused to make any correction in the date of birth entry, on the ground that almost 24 years have passed from the date of first issuance.

6. Under the circumstances, this Court is of the considered opinion, that the Office Memorandum dated 26.11.2025 provides guidelines in cases where corrections / modifications are required in respect of the entries in the passport document. Further, paragraph No. 4(iii) of the said Office Memorandum dated 26.11.2025 states that if the passport was taken when a person was minor, such person upon attaining the age of majority brings to the notice of the passport authority the correct parti