Passport authorities must assess birth-date corrections against birth certificates and issue reasoned decisions.

The petitioner’s passport recorded his date of birth as 19 December 1999, whereas he claimed his correct date of birth was 19 December 2000, as shown in his birth certificate and Class 10 marksheet.

He sought re-issuance of the passport with the corrected date of birth, but the authorities returned or rejected his application with a remark that the date of birth did not match, without passing a reasoned order.

In the writ petition, the Union of India submitted that a fresh application supported by relevant public documents would be considered in accordance with law.

1. Whether the petitioner was entitled to a direction requiring the respondents to correct his date of birth in the passport to 19 December 2000

2. Whether the competent authority should consider a fresh application for correction of the petitioner’s date of birth, having regard to his birth certificate

The Court relied on Jigya Yadav (Minor) (Through Guardian/Father Hari Singh) v. Central Board of Secondary Education and Others, (2021) 7 SCC 535, as relevant to correction of date-of-birth records.

It also treated the petitioner’s birth certificate, recording his date of birth as 19 December 2000, as an undisputed public document relevant to the requested correction.

The Court did not identify a specific statutory provision; it directed that the competent authority consider the application in accordance with the applicable law and Ministry of External Affairs rules and guidelines.

The Court noted that the birth certificate recorded 19 December 2000, while the passport showed 19 December 1999, and that the former date remained undisputed.

Rather than itself ordering the passport to be corrected, the Court gave the petitioner liberty to submit a fresh application and required the authorities to decide it in accordance with law, taking the birth certificate into account and applying the principles referred to in Jigya Yadav.

It directed that, upon filing a fresh application, the competent authority consider and decide it by a reasoned order within 60 days of receiving a certified copy of the order, keeping in view the date of birth recorded in the petitioner’s birth certificate.