Delhi High Court
Deep Chandra Harbola vs Union Of India & Anr. on 2 February, 2021
Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
Signing Date:04.02.2021 16:00:07
$~6
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Date of decision: 2nd February, 2021
+ W.P.(C) 6171/2020
DEEP CHANDRA HARBOLA ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Ritesh Kumar, Advocate (M:
9891245343).
versus
UNION OF INDIA & ANR. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh,
Advocate for R-l and 2.
CORAM:
JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)
1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode (physical and virtual
hearing).
2. The Petitioner has filed this petition seeing directions for amending
the place of birth in his passport, issued by the Regional Passport Office,
Delhi.
3. The Petitioner is the holder of the passport bearing No. H9634228,
which is valid from 22nd March, 2010 to 21st March, 2020. At the time when
he had applied for his passport, the said passport was issued with his place
of birth being shown as 'Delhi'. The case of the Petitioner is that he did not
realise that there was a mistake in the place of birth mentioned in the
passport. Sometime in 2013, when the Petitioner is stated to have decided to
travel abroad for the first time, he realised that the place of birth on his
passport was incorrect. The Petitioner applied on 28th June 2013, seeking
correction of his place of birth in the passport, before the Regional Passport
Office, Delhi, however he was asked to produce a birth certificate under
Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969, from the place he was born.
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Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
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Thereafter, the Petitioner re-applied for the issue of the said passport with
the rectified place of birth on 26th November 2015, on the strength of the
birth certificate issued by the Office of the Registrar of Births and Death,
Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Government of
Uttaranchal on 9th June 2014. The passport authorities, however, have
refused to change the place of birth of the Petitioner vide letter dated 29th
December, 2016, without giving any reasons for the same. Hence the
present petition has been filed.
4. Ld. counsel for the Petitioner, in his submissions, relies upon the birth
certificate of the Petitioner issued on 9th June, 2014 by the Office of the
Registrar of Births and Death, Department of Medical Health and Family
Welfare, Government of Uttaranchal, which shows the Petitioner's place of
birth as "Kargona of Tahsil/Block Bhikiyashen of District Almora of
State/Union territory Uttarakhand." He submits that the Petitioner has never
travelled using the passport which had the wrong place of birth. Ld. counsel
further submits that the Petitioner, being a High Court employee, had
mentioned his correct place of birth in his employment application to the
High Court. He submits that since only an inadvertent error has taken place,
the same ought to be allowed to be rectified. Ld. counsel finally submits that
an affidavit dated 7th January 2016, in terms of the demand of the passport
authorities, confirming the correct place of birth, was also filed with the
passport authorities, however, the concerned passport authority refused to
amend the said passport on the ground that the Ministry of External Affairs'
order does not permit a change in place of birth on the passport. He relies
upon two judgments of this court in :
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Signing Date:04.02.2021 13:37
Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
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i) Sunita Sawhney v. Union of India (WP(C) 10839/2015,
decided on 3rd December, 2015)
ii) Nisha Kamboj v. Regional Passport Officer, Delhi
(10789/2015, decided on 11th February, 2016)
5. Mr. Awadhesh Kumar Singh, ld. counsel appearing for the
Respondents, submits that counter affidavit has been filed. As per the said
counter affidavit, the stand of the passport authorities is that once
information is submitted with the said authority, the applicant confirms the
accuracy of the said information and thus, applicants cannot be allowed to
continuously keep changing the said information. It is the Respondents case
that there was no justification for giving the wrong place of birth initially
itself.
6. Heard ld. counsels for the parties. The Passport Authority, appears to
have relied upon the office memorandum dated 26th November, 2015, issued
by the CPV division, Ministry of External Affairs, prescribing guidelines
with regard to change/ correction of dates of birth in passports already held
by applicants. As per the said guidelines, clerical/technical mistakes in
passports, including that of "place of birth" can be permitted only within a
period of five years of issuance of the passport with the incorrect
information and not beyond that. The relevant extract of the said
Memorandum reads:
"(ii) If an applicant applies for the change of date of
birth in the passport within a reasonable period of time
i.e. within a span of five (5) years from the date of
issue of passport having the alleged wrong date of
birth, with the birth certificate issued by the Registrar
of Births & Deaths stating that the date of birth
recorded in the passport was based on the entries
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Signing Date:04.02.2021 13:37
Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
Signing Date:04.02.2021 16:00:07
mentioned documents other than the Birth Certificate,
the request of such an applicant irrespective of the
difference in the dates of birth, may be considered by
the Passport Issuing Authority. However, before the
issuance of passport with changed date of birth, the
Passport Authority shall also levy appropriate penalty
on the applicant for obtaining passport on previous
occasion by providing wrong information regarding
his/her date of birth."
The order of the Passport Authorities refusing a change in the place of birth
in the passport of the Petitioner, seems to be based on the aforesaid Office
Memorandum.
7. Ld. counsel for the Petitioner has relied upon the judgment of a ld.
Single judge of this court in Sunita Sawhney (supra) wherein it was held as
under:
"16. To me it appears:
(I) That the respondents, at the time of issuance of
Passport and for recording date of birth therein,
should insist upon the applicant producing the Birth
Certificate and only if the applicant states that his/her
birth was not registered under the law aforesaid
should other proof of date of birth be accepted.
Ordinarily, the applicant should be asked to resort to
delayed registration procedure under Section 13
(supra).
(II) That in the event of the applicant, at the time of
issuance of Passport states that his/her birth was not
registered and subsequently, while seeking correction
of date of birth, producing (a) a Birth Certificate
showing registration at time of birth or soon thereafter,
the respondents, if satisfied of reasons given for being
earlier ignorant of registration; or (b) a Birth
Certificate obtained under the delayed registration
procedure, the respondents should correct the date of
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Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
Signing Date:04.02.2021 16:00:07
birth on the Passport to bring it in consonance with the
date of birth on the Birth Certificate.
(III) No application for change of date of birth on
Passport, inconsistent with date of birth on Birth
Certificate can be entertained. The applicant in such
case should be directed to resort to procedure under
Section 15 of Registration of Births & Deaths Act for
correction thereof.
(IV) In no case can the respondents refuse to correct
date of birth, after howsoever time the same may have
been sought.
17. I say so because (a) Passport is an important
document on which and on entries wherein a large number
of other authorities/persons dealing with the holder of
Passport rely; (b) once birth is compulsorily required to be,
registered under the law aforesaid, there is no reason why
PIAs should not insist on production of Birth Certificate for
making entry of date of birth on the Passport specially when
the law also makes a provision for delayed registration; (c)
however where, in the past. Passport has been issued with
date of birth on basis other than Birth Certificate,
correction of date of birth should be allowed only on
production of Birth Certificate by following the delayed
registration procedure, again in consonance with the law
aforesaid; (d) the same will also fulfil the aim of the law
aforesaid of accurate country wide data and not having a
citizen whose birth is not registered in accordance with law
of the country; (e) when the law aforesaid provides for
enquiry by Magistrate as to the date of birth of a person
whose birth was not contemporaneously registered, there
appears to be no need for PIA to make own enquiry in this
regard or to insist on obtaining declaration of Civil Court in
that regard; (f) once a Birth Certificate is produced and the
PIA is satisfied of genuineness thereof, correction of date of
birth to bring it in consonance with Birth Certificate cannot
be refused, whatsoever may be in delay in applying
therefor; (g) inconsistent dates of birth can cause grave
prejudice to the citizen and for which there is no sanction in
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Signing Date:04.02.2021 13:37
Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
Signing Date:04.02.2021 16:00:07
law; (h) there can be diverse reasons for delay--for
instance need for change in date of birth in Passport to
bring it in consonance with Birth Certificate may be felt at
fag end of life when the holder of Passport intends to
migrate to be with children abroad and when such
inconsistency is found to be an impediment; (i) the
judgments aforesaid having given primacy, in the matter of
date of birth, to the Birth Certificate, there is no reason to
refuse to correct the date of birth on Passport on production
of Birth Certificate."
8. In the abovementioned decision, the Court has categorically held that
irrespective of the amount of delay which may have been there in applying
for a change of date of birth, the same cannot be refused. As long as the
genuineness of the birth certificate is not in dispute, the Applicant ought to
be allowed to change the date of birth in accordance with the birth
certificate. The same principle is also applicable to the change in place of
birth.
9. Reliance is also placed upon the judgment in Nisha Kamboj (supra)
wherein a ld. Single Judge of this Court has held:
"4. However, keeping in view the aforesaid judgments cited
by learned counsel for petitioner as well as the fact that the
petitioner is relying upon a statutory document, namely,
birth certificate issued under the Act, 1969, this Court is of
the view that petitioner's request for change of place of birth
should be examined by the passport authority itself."
10. The Petitioner's passport has now expired. Accordingly, the Petitioner
is permitted to apply for a fresh passport with the correct place of birth, in
terms of the birth certificate which has been placed on record. The earlier
passport shall not come in the way of the Petitioner applying for a new
passport, with the correct place of birth. Needless to add, the authorities
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Signing Date:04.02.2021 13:37
Digitally Signed By:DINESH
SINGH NAYAL
Signing Date:04.02.2021 16:00:07
would be entitled to verify the genuineness and accuracy of these documents
and proceed with the application in accordance with law.
11. The present petition is disposed of in the above terms.
PRATHIBA M. SINGH
JUDGE
FEBRUARY 2, 2021
dj/Ak
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Signing Date:04.02.2021 13:37
