Guidelines Relating To Issuance Of Passports Cannot Go Against Passports Act Or Rules: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court has held that any Guidelines relating to the issuance of Passports in India/Abroad cannot go against the provisions of the Passports Act 1967 or the Rules.

The Court was considering a Writ Petition seeking a direction to the Regional Passport Officer to consider his application preferred for re-issue of her passport with the date of birth corrected.

The single bench of Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. observed, "It is also to be seen that the compendium of Instructions/Guidelines relating to the issue of Passports in India/Abroad cannot go against the provisions of the Passports Act, 1967 or the Rules thereon or any other instrument having the force of law. In the absence of any statutory provision indicating that the correction of date of birth in the passport will have to be preceded by the correction of date of birth in the service records in case of Government Servants, the stand of the respondents has to be rejected."

The Petitioner was represented by Advocate K.R. Ganesh while the Respondent was represented by CGC Shri C. Dinesh.

Facts of the Case

Senior Counsel appearing for the Petitioner submitted that the Petitioner cannot now seek a correction of the service records as the period stipulated for the same has long expired, and therefore, correcting the service record is impossible. He further submitted that as per The Passports (Amendment) Rules, 2025, all that is required for correction is an affidavit stating the reason for change in the date of birth, and therefore, the guidelines/manual that run counter to the statutory provisions cannot stand the scrutiny of law.

Reasoning By Court

The Court at the outset noted that the correction of service records in the case of the Petitioner is an impossibility at this distance of time referring to a Government Order which fixed five years from entering the service for correction of date of birth and for those who had not made an application, one year from the date of issuance of the order.

Affirming that the service book of the Petitioner cannot be corrected, the Court referred to Supreme Court's decision in State of Madhya Pradesh vs. Narmada Bachao Andolan and another wherein the doctrine of Impossibility was established and it was held that when it appears that the performance of the formalities prescribed by a statute has been rendered impossible by circumstances over which the persons interested had no control, like an act of God, the circumstances will be taken as a valid excuse.

"Even in the case of the performance of formalities prescribed by a statute, the impossibility due to circumstances over which the persons concerned have no control has to be taken as a valid excuse. Where the law creates a duty or charge, and the party is disabled to perform it, without any default in him, and has no remedy over it, there the law will, in general, excuse him. It has to be treated at par with those circumstances over which the person had no control, like the act of God. As such, the insistence on a condition that is incapable of performance cannot be accepted," the Court observed.

The Petition was accordingly allowed.

Cause Title: Josna Raphael Poovathingal v. Union of India and others (2025:KER:36087)

Appearances:

Petitioner- Advocate K.R. Ganesh, Senior Advocate Elvin Peter P.J.. Advocate Ahsana E., Advocate Adarsh Babu C.S.

Respondent- CGC Shri C. Dinesh

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