The Madras High Court asked the Ministry of External Affairs and Consulate General of India, USA – Houston to process the application for renewal of the passport of a minor child who has been staying with her father without insisting on her mother’s consent.

The Writ Petition before the High Court was filed by the petitioner-father seeking a direction to respondents to renew and reissue the passport of his minor child without insisting consent of the mother of the child.

The Single Bench of Justice S.Sounthar asserted, “In the case on hand, the passport of the minor child is sought to be renewed by the father and non-renewal will jeopardize her education in United States. Being a minor, she is incapable of applying for renewal of her passport and signing the necessary documents. Therefore, for the purpose of renewal, the poor child is depending on her parents/guardian.”

M/s.P.R.Umamaheswari represented the Petitioner while Central Government Counsel V.Ashokkumar represented the Respondents.

Factual Background

The petitioner got married to the third respondent in the year 2008 and out of the wedlock, a girl child was born. In the year 2013, the couple and their minor child relocated to the United States in connection with his employment. Later, there were strains in the marital life between the petitioner and the third respondent and according to the petitioner, she returned to India in the year 2021 and has been residing with her parents. The petitioner's minor daughter is living with him and presently studying 10th Grade in Texas, U.S.A.

The Indian passport of the child expired on January 28, 2025. However, his application for renewal of the passport was returned with an instruction to furnish a copy of the divorce decree along with the court order for child custody or a photograph of the passport attested by both parents. When the petitioner contacted the mother seeking her cooperation in getting the passport renewed, she imposed a condition that the petitioner should facilitate her return to the United States. Aggrieved thereby, the Petitioner approached the High Court.

Reasoning

In light of the fact that the child is pursuing her studies in the United States, the Bench said, “If the passport of the child is allowed to expire without renewal, there is a danger of child acquiring unwanted tag of “illegal migrant” and the same will adversely affect her studies. The strained relationship between the parents shall not be allowed to affect the welfare of the minor child. It is pertinent to mention that right to education is recognized as a fundamental right of every child below the age of 14 years by Article 21-A of the Constitution of India.”

The Bench was of the view that if the mother wants to join the petitioner, it is always open to her to explore the remedies available to her under law. “When the 3rd respondent has got legal remedy to explore the possibility of joining the petitioner, it is not open to her to impose a condition that unless petitioner facilitate her return to United States, she cannot give her consent for renewal of the passport”, it added.

Highlighting that the strained relationship between the petitioner and the child’s mother shall not come in the way of their minor child pursuing her education, the Bench asserted, “The minor child is aged about 15 years and the legal guardianship vests with the petitioner and in the absence of any order of the court of competent jurisdiction depriving the petitioner of his custody over the child, I do not think the Official Respondents can refuse renewal of passport on technical consideration that one of the parent has not given her consent for renewal of the passport.”

Thus, the Bench disposed of the Petition by asking the petitioner to represent the returned passport application and directing the Official respondents to process the application for renewal of the passport of the minor child and pass necessary orders for the reissue of the passport, without insisting on consent from the mother if the petitioner can fulfil other legal formalities.

Cause Title: ABC v. Union Of India & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:MHC:126)

Appearance:

Petitioner: M/s.P.R.Umamaheswari

Respondents: Central Government Counsel V.Ashokkumar Government Advocate (Crl.Side) L.Baskaran, Advocate K.Balaji

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Justice S Sounthar

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.