Rakesh Kumar Jain, J. - The petitioner was born on 18.08.1990. The biological parents of the petitioner are S.M. Arora and Nirmal Arora.
His sister Gurpreet was born on 10.01.1988. The marriage of his natural parents was dissolved by a decree of divorce in the year 1996 in HMA
No.843/92 by the Court of Additional District Judge, Delhi and custody of both the children were handed over to their mother Nirmal Arora, who
re-married Ujjal Singh on 13.02.1997 and got their marriage registered with the Registrar of Marriages, Panipat. At the time of re-marriage of his
mother, the petitioner was about 7 years of age and his elder sister was about 9 years of age, who have been brought up by their mother and step-
father Ujjal Singh, whose name is recorded as father of the petitioner in the Ration Card, Adhar Card, PAN card, Voter Identity card, School
Certificate and even in the Passport No. F3149729 of her sister Gurpreet. The petitioner also applied for passport with the father''s name of his
step-father but he has been informed that it can be issued in the name of his biological father in view of Para 4.4 of Chapter 8 of the Passport
Manual Act, 2010 (hereinafter referred to as the ""Act""). The petitioner has, thus, filed this petition seeking a mandamus declaring the action of the
respondents as illegal in not issuing him passport in the name of his step-father Ujjal Singh.
2. Counsel for the petitioner has submitted that the petitioner is the son of Ujjal Singh, which is recorded in various other Government records and
if the name of his biological father is mentioned in the passport, as being insisted upon by the passport authority, then it would create a lot of
confusion especially when his real elder sister is already holding the passport bearing the name of his step-father Ujjal Singh and not the biological
father S.M. Arora. It is also submitted that at the time of divorce, the biological father handed over his custody to his mother and snapped all his
relations with the petitioner about his maintenance, education and other necessities of life including visitation rights. It is further submitted that for all
intents and purposes, the step-father of the petitioner is his legal guardian though he has not been so appointed by the Court because it was never
found necessary, therefore, Para 4.4 of Chapter 8 of the Act, relied upon by the respondents may be read down in favour of the petitioner
considering Ujjal Singh, his step-father, as his legal guardian in the given facts and circumstances. In support of his submission, he has relied upon a
decision of the Delhi High Court in the case of Shalu Nigam & Anr. v. The Regional Passport Officer & Anr., W.P. (C) No. 155/2016, decided
on 17.05.2016 and a judgment of this Court in the case of Prerna Katia v. Regional Passport Office Chandigarh and another, CWP No.
26805 of 2015, decided on 05.08.2016.
3. On the other hand, learned counsel for the respondents has only relied upon the provisions of Para 4.4 of Chapter 8 of the Act and contended
that the respondents had no objection if the petitioner obtains an order from the Court appointing his step-father Ujjal Singh as his legal guardian.
4. I have heard learned counsel for the parties and examined the available record with their able assistance.
5. There is no dispute that the petitioner is the natural born son of S.M. Arora and Nirmal Arora and has an elder sister Gurpreet. The marriage of
his parents was dissolved by the decree of divorce in 1996 and he was given in custody to his mother. The mother re-married on 13.02.1997 with
Ujjal Singh when the petitioner and his elder sister were both of tender age. They have been looked after by their step-father Ujjal Singh, who has
been recorded as his father in various Government records like Ration Card, Adhar Card, PAN card and School Certificates etc. Elder sister of
the petitioner has already got a passport in which Ujjal Singh has been mentioned as her father. The only difficulty being faced by the petitioner is
because of Para 4.4 of Chapter 8 of the Act, which provides as under:-
4.4) In the event of re-marriage after divorce, the name of stepfather/step-mother cannot be written in the passport of children from the previous
marriage. The relationship of the child to his biological parents subsists, even after divorce by parents. It is also not possible to leave the column of
father or mother blank in the passport in such cases. Therefore, such applicants must write the names of their biological parents in the application
form. However, if the step-father or step-mother is appointed by a Court as legal guardian, the name of such a step-parent can be written as legal
guardian.
6. According to the aforesaid provision, the name of the stepfather cannot be mentioned in the passport even on re-marriage after divorce because
relationship of the child to his biological parents subsists, even after divorce by parents. However, name of the step-father can be mentioned after
he is appointed by the Court as a legal guardian.
7. Thus, the question would arise as to whether in the given facts and circumstances where the step-father is acting as a legal guardian of the
petitioner since when he was about 7 years of age, it requires a declaration by the Court for the purpose of recording his name as his father/legal
guardian in the passport?
8. In Shalu Nigam''s case (supra), the prayer was made by the petitioner for re-issuance of her daughter''s passport without insisting upon her
father''s name being mentioned in the application on the ground that she has raised her daughter as a single parent since her birth as the biological
father has completely abdicated his responsibilities.
9. In Prerna Katia''s case (supra), prayer was made to use sir-name of the petitioner with the name of her daughter in the passport instead of sir-
name of her divorced husband.
10. Both the writ petitions were allowed by the Courts though in Prerna Katia''s case (supra), the respondents had relied upon Para 4.5 of
Chapter 8 of the Act, in which it is provided that the request for deletion of parent name from passport due to parents'' divorce should not be
accepted because the divorce decree does not result in severance of the relation between the child and the parent, unless the parent has legally
disowned the child. In the said case, the view taken by this Court was that since the child was in custody of the wife at the time of divorce and the
husband did not even ask for visitation rights and gave the entire alimony/maintenance to the mother of the child, the petitioner therein was held
entitled to get her sirname corrected in the passport by deleting the sir-name of her biological father.
11. Similarly, in this case, the petitioner has been looked after by his step-father when he was only 7 years of age and has been consistently
recorded in various Government records as the son of his step-father and not the son of his biological father and his elder sister is having the
passport with the name of his step-father, therefore, the step-father of the petitioner is his legal guardian for all intents and purposes for which there
is no need to obtain an order from the Court for his appointment as legal guardian until and unless the capacity of the step-father, acting as a legal
guardian, is challenged by the biological father especially in a case where the custody is handed over by the Court to the mother.
12. Thus, in view of the aforesaid facts and circumstances, the objection of the passport authority is overruled and direction is issued to issue
passport to the petitioner mentioning his father''s name as Ujjal Singh.
The needful shall be done expeditiously, preferably within a period of one month from the date of receipt of certified copy of this order.
