SRINAGAR: The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar has directed the passport authorities to consider issuing a fresh passport to a minor student with his correct date of birth, holding that the authorities acted arbitrarily by retaining an erroneous date despite corrected official records.
Justice Sanjay Parihar passed the order on September 2, 2026, while allowing a writ petition filed by Mohammad Fazli Illahi through his father. The court directed respondent No. 2 to consider the petitioner’s application for a fresh passport showing his correct date of birth on the basis of his Matriculation Certificate within two weeks of receiving a copy of the order.
The petitioner’s date of birth was incorrectly recorded as July 12, 2004, instead of May 25, 2008, in his school records at the initial stage of his education. The error was subsequently detected and corrected in 2018 after the petitioner approached the Zonal Education Officer, Kakapora, Pulwama.
The court noted that the petitioner’s subsequent academic records, including his Secondary and Higher Secondary certificates, reflected May 25, 2008 as his date of birth. The same date was also recorded in his Aadhaar card and a fresh Birth Certificate issued on January 21, 2026.
The authorities had nevertheless issued Passport No. C5538808 on November 29, 2024, retaining July 12, 2004 as the date of birth.
The passport authorities argued that the petitioner had earlier obtained a passport on the basis of a Birth Certificate carrying the same date of birth and had not sought its correction for more than a decade. They contended that the request for a change at this stage was unjustified.
The petitioner countered that he had been only four years old when the original passport was issued and could not have detected the error himself. He further submitted that the original Birth Certificate relied upon by the authorities had subsequently been cancelled by the Chief Medical Officer, Pulwama, on July 21, 2026, after the competent authorities recognised May 25, 2008 as his correct date of birth.
The High Court held that the passport authorities had failed to properly consider the petitioner’s case under the Ministry of External Affairs’ Circular No. VI/401/2/5/2001 dated November 26, 2015.
The circular generally restricts requests for correction of date of birth made more than five years after issuance of a passport. However, the court pointed out that it specifically provides an exemption for applicants who were minors when the passport containing the incorrect date of birth was issued.
The court observed that the petitioner was a minor when his first passport was issued and that, by the time he sought a fresh passport, his school records had already been corrected and the earlier Birth Certificate had been cancelled.
It held that the Passport Officer was required to consider the special concession available to minors instead of relying solely on the earlier erroneous Birth Certificate.
The court further observed that refusal to issue a passport bearing the correct date of birth would affect the petitioner’s right to free movement, particularly as he had secured admission to the International Higher School of Medicine, Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, for the Doctor of Medicine (MD) programme for the 2026–27 academic session.
The court referred to the Supreme Court’s judgment in Maneka Gandhi v Union of India and held that the respondents’ inaction was arbitrary and unreasonable, contrary to principles of natural justice and inconsistent with the Passports Act, 1967 and the rules framed under it.
The writ petition was accordingly allowed and disposed of with the direction to consider the petitioner’s fresh passport application within two weeks.
