J U D G M E N T

Petitioner has approached this Court complaining about the action on the part of the second respondent in rejecting the application for passport of a minor Niveditha Kumaraguru. The application is filed by her guardian. The father of the petitioner is Kumaraguru Shanmugham and the mother is Rani Joseph. There was no material to indicate that Rani Joseph is the legally wedded wife of Kumaraguru Shanmugham whose wife's name as shown in his passport was R.Kokilam. The learned counsel for the petitioner submits that Kumaraguru Shanmugham has married Rani Joseph subsequent to the marriage with R.Kokilam and the applicant is the minor daughter of Kumaraguru Shanmugham and Rani Joseph. The learned Asst.Solicitor General, on instructions, would submit that there was no material indicating the marriage between Kumaraguru Shanmugham and Rani Joseph. Learned counsel refers to paragraph 4.8 of Passport Manual, 2010 which reads as follows:

“4.8 Cases where child is born out of wedlock but with both the biological parents accepting parentage of the child. In this case, both the biological parents' names can be entered in the child's passport, after obtaining affidavit (Appendix-27