Swaraj Singh Kohli vs Union Of India Through The ...
2022 Latest Caselaw 3312 Del

                                                                                       2022/DHC/005489




                          $~77
                          *    IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
                                                                   Date of Decision: 9th December, 2022
                          +           W.P.(C) 16867/2022&CM APPL. 53414/2022
                                  SWARAJ SINGH KOHLI                        ..... Petitioner
                                                 Through: Mr. Manish Biala & Mr. Devesh
                                                          Ratan, Advocate (M: 9810333571)
                                                 versus
                                  UNION OF INDIA THROUGH THE
                                  SECRETARY                                 ..... Respondent
                                                 Through: Mr. Vineet Dhanda with Ms. Shruti
                                                          Gupta, Advocates for R-1.
                                  CORAM:
                                  JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH
                          Prathiba M. Singh, J. (Oral)

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. The Petitioner-Mr. Swaraj Singh Kohli who is the son of Mr. BS Kohli and Mrs. DK Kohli has filed the present petition seeking rectification of his date of birth in the passport. His case is that inadvertently when his uncle applied for his passport, the date of birth was wrongly recorded as 5th October, 1999. The actual date of birth of the Petitioner is 14th September, 1999.

3. In support of his petition, the Petitioner relies upon his Election Photo Identity Card, Aadhar Card, Birth Certificate, School ID Card, CBSE Grade Sheet-cum-Certificate, Bar Council Provisional Identity Card, etc. The Petitioner submits that he has applied for change of his date of birth, however, despite repeated reminders, the Petitioner has not received the rectified passport. Hence, it is prayed that the passport authorities be directed to rectify the date of birth in the passport and issue the passport immediately.

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:DEVANSHU JOSHI Signing Date:13.12.2022 10:29:22 2022/DHC/005489

4. Ld. counsel for the Respondent accepts notice.

5. Heard. A perusal of the documents shows that in all the documents except the passport, the Petitioner's date of birth is reflected as 14th September, 1999. The rectification of date of birth in a passport, would be governed by the Passport Act, 1967 and the Rules framed thereunder. It is the settled legal position that the date of birth in the passport ought to be matching with the birth certificate of the passport holder. This was most recently held by this Court in Deep Chandra Harbola v. UOI & Anr. [W.P.(C) 6171/2020, decided on 2nd February, 2021], wherein this Court has followed the judgment in Sunita Sawhney v. Union of India [WP(C) 10839/2015, decided on 3rd December, 2015]. The relevant portion of the said judgment is set out herein below:

"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...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 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

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:DEVANSHU JOSHI Signing Date:13.12.2022 10:29:22 2022/DHC/005489

occasion by providing wrong information regarding his/her date of birth."...

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: ...

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.""

6. Accordingly, it is directed that the passport authorities may verify all the documents and the authenticity thereof in accordance with the prescribed procedure and upon confirming the date of birth of the Petitioner, may issue a rectified passport within a period of one month from today.

7. With these observations, the present petition, along with all pending applications is disposed of.

PRATHIBA M. SINGH JUDGE DECEMBER 9, 2022 dj/ms

Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed By:DEVANSHU JOSHI Signing Date:13.12.2022 10:29:22