Title: Mohammad Bin Shora v Union of India
Citation: WP(C) 1121/2023 CM No. (2676/2023)
Dated on: 20.12.2023
Corum: Justice Sanjay Dhar
Facts of the case
The petitioner’s grandparents made a mistake, and on December 22, 2010, he (Mohammad Bin Shora) was issued a passport with the incorrect birthdate – February 28, 2005 instead of March 28, 2005 on it. A new passport bearing the same false birthdate but a corrected surname was issued on June 19, 2019. The petitioner, who was underage in both cases, requested a correction to his true birthdate of March 28, 2005, in an application for re-issuance on February 02, 2023, following his 18th birthday. The request was denied by the Passport Authority, which stated the birth certificates were fake. Birth certificates from the J&K Board of School Education and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation are used by the petitioner to substantiate his claims. According to the Passport Authority, the petitioner’s previous birth certificate served as the basis for the recorded date of birth. The court has weighed the arguments made by each party and looked over pertinent records, such as office memos from the Ministry of External Affairs, that offer instructions on how to modify a passports birthdate and went through the guidelines of it.
Legal Provision
The office memorandum refers to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, CPV Division, New Delhi, regarding the change of date of birth in the passport of an applicant. The office memorandum dated 26.11.2015 and 22.09.2016 contain the conditions and procedures for such a change. The High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has referred to these guidelines while deciding the writ petition filed by the petitioner who sought a correction in his passport to the extent of his date of birth. In the case of minors an exception has been made and it has been provided that, when such an applicant after attaining age of majority applies for the passport with the request to change the date of birth in the passport issued to him at the time when he was minor, the passport issuing authority can consider his case if it is satisfied with the claim and documents submitted by the applicant. Birth certificate issued by Srinagar Municipal Corporation and birth certificate issued by J&K Board of School Education. Both these certificates depict the date of birth of the petitioner as 28.03.2005. If these certificates are found to be authentic by the respondent-Passport Authority, upon their verification, there is no legal impediment for the said authority to effect correction in date of birth as depicted in the passport of the petitioner.
Court analysis and Judgement
The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir allowed the writ petition and directed the passport Authority to effect change relating to date of birth of the petitioner in his passport as requested by him as the documents submitted by him in support of his claim are authentic and directed the passport authority to processed with the requirements within a month of issue of order copy served to them. And the High Court disposed off the writ petition filed by him.
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