J U D G M E N T
The grievance of the petitioner is that his request for correction of the entries relating to date of birth and place of birth in the passport is not being entertained by the authorities under the Passport Act mainly on the ground that he has not applied for correction of the entry relating to date of birth within five years from the date of issue of the passport.
2. The learned Assistant Solicitor General appearing for the respondents attempted to justify the stand of the authorities relying on Office Memorandum No.VI/401/2/5/2001 dated 26.11.2015 issued by the Central Government. According to him, correction of the entries in the passport as regards date of birth is now governed by the said Office Memorandum which provides that application for correction shall be submitted within five years from the date of issue of the passport. As regards the entry relating to place of birth, the learned Assistant Solicitor General stated that the respondents are prepared to correct the same if a request is made for the said purpose.
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WPC 14745 of 2016 2
3. This Court in W.P.(C) No.7274 of 2016 and connected cases, took the view that the Office Memorandum relied on by the respondents shall not stand in the way of the passport authorities entertaining genuine applications for correction of the entries in the passport relating to date of birth. In the light of the judgment of this Court in the said batch of cases, I deem it appropriate to direct the authorities under the Passport Act to consider the request of the petitioner for correction as regards the entry relating to the date of birth as directed in the said cases. In the light of the submissions made by the learned Assistant Solicitor General, I also deem it appropriate to direct the authorities under the Passport Act to consider the request of the petitioner for correction of the entries in his passport relating to his place of birth.
In the result, the writ petition is allowed and the second respondent is directed to consider the requests of the petitioner for correction of the entries in the passport within three weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment. The petitioner is at liberty to place materials before the Passport Officer to establish the genuineness of the requests. The Passport Officer shall carry out the corrections requested, if the requests are found to be genuine.
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WPC 14745 of 2016 3 The petitioner is at liberty to produce a certified copy of this judgment for compliance before the Passport Officer.
Sd/-
P.B.SURESH KUMAR, JUDGE.
tgs (true copy)
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