NEW DELHI: The Gujarat high court has rejected a father’s objection to his 10-year-old daughter being issued a passport mentioning her as the child of his estranged wife and bearing the latter’s surname.
The couple — a Vadodara-based teacher and an income-tax officer currently posted in Gandhinagar — parted ways soon after their daughter’s birth in 2013. The parents are now engaged in a custody battle.
Justice V D Nanavati directed the authorities to issue the girl a passport bearing her mother’s name and also retain her maiden surname, based on the documents provided as proof of identity.
As mandated by law, the regional passport office had sought the father’s consent to his minor daughter’s application for the travel document. While he had no objection to the child being issued a passport, the Vadodara resident insisted that the document must make no mention of her mother’s name and maiden surname.
In February, the passport office closed the application, noting that one parent filed an objection while the applicant-parent didn’t respond to it.
The mother approached the high court in March through a legal service committee, seeking a directive to the passport office to issue her daughter the travel document based on the personal particulars mentioned in all documents, including Aadhaar.
The woman’s counsel, Divyang Ramani, submitted that since the couple wasn’t on talking terms amid multiple litigations, his client could not get her husband’s consent. She has no objection to the father’s name being mentioned in the specified column, but her name must also be featured on the child’s passport, the lawyer said.
The couple — a Vadodara-based teacher and an income-tax officer currently posted in Gandhinagar — parted ways soon after their daughter’s birth in 2013. The parents are now engaged in a custody battle.
Justice V D Nanavati directed the authorities to issue the girl a passport bearing her mother’s name and also retain her maiden surname, based on the documents provided as proof of identity.
As mandated by law, the regional passport office had sought the father’s consent to his minor daughter’s application for the travel document. While he had no objection to the child being issued a passport, the Vadodara resident insisted that the document must make no mention of her mother’s name and maiden surname.
In February, the passport office closed the application, noting that one parent filed an objection while the applicant-parent didn’t respond to it.
The mother approached the high court in March through a legal service committee, seeking a directive to the passport office to issue her daughter the travel document based on the personal particulars mentioned in all documents, including Aadhaar.
The woman’s counsel, Divyang Ramani, submitted that since the couple wasn’t on talking terms amid multiple litigations, his client could not get her husband’s consent. She has no objection to the father’s name being mentioned in the specified column, but her name must also be featured on the child’s passport, the lawyer said.