Court mandates cancellation of the previous birth certificate for retention of the new passport.
In a significant ruling, the Delhi High Court has allowed Tanvika Chandran to retain her passport, which reflects her corrected date of birth as August 5, 1996, with the stipulation that she must cancel her earlier birth certificate, which erroneously stated her date of birth as August 5, 1995. This judgment came as a resolution to the appeal filed by the Union of India against a previous decision by a single judge, which had favored Ms. Chandran.
The case stemmed from a discrepancy where Ms. Chandran held two birth certificates with different dates of birth. Initially, in 1998, a passport was issued based on the 1995 birth certificate. However, upon applying for a new passport 18 years later, Ms. Chandran submitted her 1996 birth certificate, which led to the rejection of her application by the passport office on July 23, 2018. The passport authorities cited rules from the Passport Manual, which necessitated that the date of birth in the reissued passport should match the original unless the original birth certificate is invalidated.
Following the passport office's rejection, Ms. Chandran approached the Delhi High Court, which ruled in her favor, allowing the issuance of a new passport with the 1996 date of birth. The Union of India subsequently appealed this decision, arguing for the cancellation of the 1995 birth certificate to prevent any legal inconsistencies.
The Division Bench, comprising Justices C. Hari Shankar and Om Prakash Shukla, emphasized that the respondent must apply to the municipal authorities to annul the 1995 birth certificate. The court gave Ms. Chandran a two-week period to initiate this process and instructed the municipal authorities to resolve the application within 12 weeks. Upon cancellation, the passport office must be notified to finalize the document's validity.
This judgment underscores the legal complexities surrounding identity documentation and aims to reconcile discrepancies to uphold the integrity of governmental records.
Bottom Line:
Passport issuance and date of birth discrepancies - The respondent allowed to retain the passport with corrected date of birth subject to cancellation of the earlier birth certificate by municipal authorities.
Statutory provision(s):
Passport Act, relevant rules from the Passport Manual
Union of India v. Tanvika Chandran, (Delhi)(DB) : Law Finder Doc id # 2856027
