Kerala High Court
Shajahan Kassim vs Union Of India on 3 November, 2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
PRESENT
THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE BECHU KURIAN THOMAS
WEDNESDAY, THE 3RD DAY OF NOVEMBER 2021/12TH KARTHIKA, 1943
WP(C) NO. 14378 OF 2021
PETITIONER:
SHAJAHAN KASSIM
AGED 51 YEARS,S/O. KASSIM,
NAVAS MANZIL,
THATHAMPALLY P.O, INDIRA JUNCTION,
ZILLA COURT WARD, ALAPPUZHA,
KERALA 688 013
BY ADV. PRAISHEEL PRAKASAM
RESPONDENTS:
1 UNION OF INDIA
REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY TO THE GOVERNMENT OF
INDIA, MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS,
NEW DELHI 110 001
2 PASSPORT OFFICER
REGIONAL PASSPORT OFFICE,
PANAMPILLY NAGAR,
ERNAKULAM, KOCHI 682 015
3 PASSPORT OFFICER
ALLAPUZHA PASSPORT SEVA KENDRA,
ALLEPPY AVENUE CENTER,
BEACH ROAD, ALAPPUZHA 688 003
BY ADV SHRI.P.VIJAYAKUMAR, ASG OF INDIA
THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR
ADMISSION ON 03.11.2021, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY
DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING:
W.P.(C) No.14378/21 -:2:-
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J.
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W.P.(C) No.14378 of 2021
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Dated this the 3rd day of November, 2021
JUDGMENT
Petitioner seeks correction of date of birth in his passport. Petitioner
alleges that though by Ext.P7 application he applied to the second
respondent to correct his date of birth from 20.02.1962 to 01.06.1969,
respondents have not taken a decision thereon and the delay is causing
prejudice to the petitioner.
2. Petitioner is the holder of an Indian passport beaning
No.J8560151 which was issued on 31.10.2011. Petitioner further pleads
that, the date of birth shown in the passport is incorrect and that his place
of birth as well as the date of birth are contrary to the actual date of birth
and place of birth. He has produced the birth certificate, the Aadhar card
and his PAN card, wherein the date of birth is shown as 01.06.1969 and
place of birth as Avalookkunnu, Alleppy, while in the existing passport, the
date of birth is shown as 20.02.1962 and place of birth as Tirunelveli, Tamil
Nadu. Petitioner seeks directions for correction of his date of birth and
place of birth and filed Ext.P7 application for renewal of his passport.
3. A statement has been filed on behalf of respondents 1 to 3
wherein it is stated that the existing passport issued to the petitioner is
only a continuation of his earlier passports and further that, the first
passport was issued to the petitioner in 1987. Respondents have further
averred that petitioner had been using his passport for the last 39 years
and interference with his date of birth, as entered in the existing passport
cannot be done lightly, especially since, the same will have far reaching
implications. The respondents have also referred to the fact that
documents produced by the petitioner for the entries as it presently exists
in the passport, would obviously have been submitted by the petitioner
and he cannot at this belated stage be permitted to correct those entries
for the mere asking that too on the basis of new documents.
4. I have heard Adv.Praisheel Prakasam., learned counsel for the
petitioner as well as Adv.P.Vijayakumar, learned Assistant Solicitor General
of India for the respondents.
5. Petitioner's existing passport is admittedly not his first passport.
As pleaded by the respondents, his first passport was issued 34 years
back, in 1987. Petitioner has admitted in his pleadings that he was
working abroad and had travelled abroad using all the earlier passports
issued to him. Visa's were obtained by the petitioner for travelling abroad
wherein the endorsement relating to his date of birth and place of birth
would have formed part of the records of the countries he travelled.
6. A passport is a solemn document, as observed by this Court in
Union of India v. Sunil Kumar (2015 (3) KLT 501) Vasu Sasi v. Union
of India and Others (2020 (4) KHC 405). Every passport is issued and
the particulars entered by referring to the documents submitted by the
applicant for such passports. The documents required to be submitted
obviously include certificates to prove the date of birth and other
documents of identification. Thus when petitioner obtained his initial
passport 34 years back, some documents would have been submitted by
the petitioner to prove his date and place of birth. There is no mention in
the writ petition as to which were those documents submitted by the
petitioner for obtaining the present entries in his passport. In the absence
of any reference to such documents, it is not proper for this Court, in
exercise of its discretionary jurisdiction under Article 226 of the
Constitution of India to direct the passport issuing authority to rely upon
the documents now submitted by the petitioner for carrying out
corrections.
7. It would be apposite to notice that the documents of identity like
the birth certificate, Aadhar card and PAN card submitted by the petitioner
for the correction now sought for, are all documents of recent origin. The
passport issuing authority cannot determine the veracity of date of birth
now seen in the certificates produced, since such a power of
determination on the veracity of the contents of documents is not vested
with the said statutory authority.
8. Further, no explanation of any nature is forthcoming from the
petitioner to justify such a highly belated application for correction of the
date and place of birth. This Court cannot accept that the petitioner was
unaware about the entries regarding date and place of birth in his passport
for the last three decades. A liberal approach in correcting the date and
place of birth in the passport may have far reaching consequences. A
passport is treated as a document of identity, especially while travelling
abroad and for obtaining employment abroad. The issuance of a passport
to the citizen of a country is based upon an International Civil Aviation
Agreement of 1944, to which India is a signatory. The International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) has enacted regulations enabling a Traveller
Identification Programme (TRIP). The aforesaid programme emphasis
integrity of civil rights that issued identity documents which formed the
basis for issuance of passport. A liberal correction of important document
like passport will erode the sanctity and integrity of the Indian Passport
issuance system, amongst the international community. Such a process
cannot be permitted to be done with the stroke of a pen, that too, very
lightly.
9. There is yet another significant impact of correction of date of
birth especially in the nature of one sought for in this writ petition.
Petitioner would have obtained employment abroad utilizing the date of
birth mentioned in the passport. The age of retirement, pensionary
benefits from abroad, if eligible and other significant rights of the said
individual would be flowing from the date of birth stipulated in the passport.
The correction of date of birth in the passport will have a far reaching
impact upon the employment of not only the petitioner but even of other
persons, who could be prejudiced. In such a view of the matter dealing
with a correction of date of birth in a passport ought to be carried with
circumspection and caution. A statutory authority vested with the powers
for correcting the date of birth, that too, in a solemn document like the
passport, ought to exercise such a power without any dictate from a Court
much less a constitutional court, unless exceptional circumstances
warrant.
10. In view of the above, I find no reason to direct the respondents
to correct the date of birth in the passport of the petitioner. However since
Ext.P7 application has been submitted by the petitioner, there is no reason
to assume that a decision will not be taken by the respondents pursuant to
such application.
With the above observations, I refuse to exercise the discretion
under Article 226 of the Constitution of India and dismiss this writ petition.
Sd/-
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS
JUDGE
vps
APPENDIX OF WP(C) 14378/2021
PETITIONER'S/S' EXHIBITS
EXHIBIT P1 THE TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGE OF
PASSPORT OF PETITIONER WHICH IS ISSUED
ON 31-11-2011
EXHIBIT P2 THE TRUE COPY OF THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE
DATED 23-03-2021 ISSUED BY ALAPPUZHA
MUNICIPALITY
EXHIBIT P3 THE TRUE COPY OF THE AADHAR CARD DATED
19-04-2021
EXHIBIT P4 THE TRUE COPY OF THE RELEVANT PAGE OF
THE SSLC BOOK
EXHIBIT P5 THE TRUE COPY OF THE PAN CARD NO.
CKQPK68370
EXHIBIT P6 THE TRUE COPY OF THE DRIVING LICENSE
DATED 17-07-1987
EXHIBIT P7 THE TRUE COPY OF ONLINE APPLICATION
RECEIPT DATED 30-06-2021 WITH REFERENCE
NO 21-1003652201
