Nimisha Anvar vs Registrar Of Births And Deaths
2021 Latest Caselaw 2409 Ker

                IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                PRESENT

       THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR

     THURSDAY, THE 21ST DAY OF JANUARY 2021 / 1ST MAGHA, 1942

                       WP(C).No.29061 OF 2020(G)


PETITIONER/S:

                NIMISHA ANVAR,AGED 21 YEARS
                D/O.ANVAR A.K., AMBALATHUVEETTIL HOUSE, MADAIKONAM
                P.O., MAPRANAM, THRISSUR DISTRICT 680 712

                BY ADVS.
                SRI.C.A.CHACKO
                SMT.C.M.CHARISMA
                SHRI.ALEKH THOMAS

RESPONDENT/S:

                REGISTRAR OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS
                IRINJALAKKUDA MUNICIPALITY, IRINJALAKKUDA, THRISSUR
                680 121

                R1 BY ADV. SRI.K.K.CHANDRAN PILLAI (SR.)
                R1 BY SMT.S.AMBILY, SC, IRINJALAKUDA MUNICIPALITY

     THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON
21.01.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
 WP(C).No.29061 OF 2020(G)                    2




                                       JUDGMENT

The petitioner has approached this Court aggrieved by the inaction on the

part of the respondent Municipality to correct the name of her mother in her Birth

Certificate, a copy of which is produced as Ext.P1 in the writ petition. It is

submitted on behalf of the petitioner that the petitioner's mother was originally of

Christian faith and the father of the petitioner is a Muslim. While the mother's

name was initially Sherly A.R., consequent to her marriage she embraced Islamic

religion on 01.03.2020 and changed her name to 'Shahna Anvar' after publishing

a notification dated 14.07.2020 in the Kerala Gazette dated 13.10.2020. The

Adhar Card of the petitioner's mother also shows her name as 'Shahna Anvar'. It

would appear that in the Birth Certificate issued to the petitioner, her mother's

name was mistakenly shown as 'Shahana Anwar' instead of 'Shahna Anvar'. It is

for the purposes of correcting the said error in the Birth Certificate that the

petitioner approached the respondent.

2. The respondent, however, expressed its inability to consider the

request for change of the entries in the Birth Register, inter alia, citing the

Government Circular dated 10.05.2017, which rather than enabling the

respondent to effect a correction of the name in the Birth Certificate only permits

them to show the alleged correct name as an alternate name of the person

concerned. Even the said corrections are permitted only if there is a Gazette

notification to support the alternate name. It is further submitted that the circular

applies only in circumstances where there has been a change in the name of the

parent by way of Gazette publication after the birth of the child and the issuance

of a Birth Certificate originally.

3. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as also the learned

Standing Counsel for the respondent Municipality.

On a consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case and the

submissions made across the Bar, I am of the view that inasmuch as the

petitioner's mother has effected a change in name through a Gazette notification

and the correction in the name of the mother in the Birth Certificate is only to the

limited extent of correcting the spelling in the name from 'Shahana Anwar' to

'Shahna Anvar,' for the purposes of ensuring a uniformity in the various identity

documents such as the Birth Certificate of the daughter as also the Adhar Card

obtained by the petitioner's mother, the ends of justice would be met by directing

the respondent Municipality to issue a corrected Birth Certificate to the petitioner

in which the mother's name is corrected as "Shahna Anvar". The respondent

shall do the needful and issue a corrected Birth Certificate within three weeks

from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The petitioner shall produce a

copy of this judgment together with a copy of the writ petition before the

respondent Municipality for further action.

The writ petition is disposed as above.

Sd/-

A.K.JAYASANKARAN NAMBIAR JUDGE

sd

APPENDIX PETITIONER'S/S EXHIBITS:

EXHIBIT P1                  TRUE COPY OF PETITIONER'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE
                            DATED 28/12/2019 ISSUED BY RESPONDENT

EXHIBIT P2                  TRUE COPY OF DISCHARGE CERTIFICATE
                            NO.106/20 DATED 1/3/2020 ISSUED FROM
                            MAUNATHUL ISLAM ASSOCIATION, PONNANI
                            NAGARAM

EXHIBIT P3                  TRUE COPY OF NOTIFICATION DATED 14/7/2020
                            PUBLISHED IN GAZETTE DATED 13/10/2020

EXHIBIT P4                  TRUE COPY OF AADHAAR CARD OF PETITIONER'S
                            MOTHER SHAHNA ANVAR

EXHIBIT P5                  TRUE COPY OF PETITIONER' CERTIFICATE ISSUED
                            FROM CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

EXHIBIT P6                  TRUE COPY OF REPRESENTATION DATED 10/11/20
                            MADE BEFORE THE RESPONDENT