Major Applicant Does Not Need Parent’s ID For Passport: Telangana HC

Hyderabad: Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka of the Telangana High Court held that passport authorities cannot insist on the identification documents of the parents of an adult applicant for issuance of a passport and observed that such insistence is illegal and arbitrary. The judge was dealing with a writ petition filed by Neha Fatima and the compelling rejection of the application by the Hyderabad Regional Passport Office on the grounds that the applicant had not submitted her parents’ documents, voter ID and ration card. According to the petitioners, they applied for a new passport on August 22, 2025 and submitted all the required documents, including Aadhaar card, birth certificate and marriage certificate. Passport authorities rejected the application following a negative police verification report stating that the parents’ documents had not been issued.

Counsel for the petitioners submitted that only proof of personal identity, address and date of birth is required for adult applicants and that parents’ documents are required only for minor applicants. It was argued that rejecting the application solely on the basis of non-production of the parents’ identity document was against the Passport Law and Passport Rules. The Union of India, represented by the passport authorities, argued that the application was processed on the basis of pre-police verification and a negative report was received from the police. It was stated that a reasoned notification was sent to the applicant, but no response was initially given. Justice Bheemapaka, after perusing the material on record and the legal order under Section 6 of the Passport Act, observed that identity documents of parents are not mandatory for an adult passport applicant and it would be arbitrary to insist on such documents. The court noted that the petitioner had previously been convicted and sentenced to imprisonment for more than two years and therefore Section 6(2)(e) of the Passport Act would not permit the issuance of a passport for a period of five years from the date of conviction. The judge observed that the records did not indicate the date of conviction or whether the five-year statutory period had expired. Rejecting the written petition, the court granted the plaintiff the freedom to apply for a new passport after the expiry of the five-year legal period from the date of conviction and instructed the passport authorities to consider the application in accordance with the law if the five-year bar period expires.