Recently, the High Court of Punjab and Haryana ordered the Regional Passport Office, Chandigarh for allowing the the request of an applicant to include the name of her biological mother in her passport instead of her step-mother’s name.
The petitioner was filed by Divya Nagpal who stated that in all her official documents her biological mother’s name is reflected like in birth certificate, educational certificates as well as Aadhar Card. So incorporating her step mother’s name could cause her difficulty during travel or studies in abroad.
The petitioner filed the petition referring to the Clause 4.12 of Chapter-9 of the Passport Manual guidelines. The Clause states that ‘Name of stepfather/stepmother may be written in the passport of the minor against the column of father/mother.’
The bench headed by Justice BS Walia stated that ”no prejudice would be caused to either of the parties in the eventuality the name of the Petitioner’s biological mother is mentioned in her passport.” The bench also noticed that mentioning her biological mother’s name in the passport would prevent confusion in future purposes of the petitioner.
The Court directed the Regional Passport Office to process the petitioner’s request within a period of 10 days.
Case Title: Divya Nagpal v. Union of India & Anr.
Case No.: CWP No. 7892/2020
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