Passport holders may soon be rid of the trouble of running around in the courts to get erroneous entries in their passports rectified.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) told a court here that earlier court orders that led to the creation of a rule in the Passport Manual, requiring an applicant to seek modifications in passport entries, armed with a judicial order, could be in for a re-look.

The MEA’s contention came during a recent hearing before a magistrate here on a complaint filed by an NRI schoolboy from Switzerland, Arvind Srinivasan, who wanted the date of birth in the passport corrected before shifting to the US for higher studies.

So, be it a change in a passport holder’s date of birth or a rectification of a miss-spelt name, the days of passport holders running around in overburdened courts to fulfil the conditions laid down in the rule, may well be numbered.

The development could prove significant for the NRIs as the simplification of the Manual Rule, if taken to its logical conclusion, may rid them of the trouble of returning to India for approaching the passport office, which issued their passport, for rectifications.

The ministry’s counsel, A K Wali, conceded before the magistrate — hearing Srinivasan’s complaint due to his jurisdiction over the passport office here — that there seemed to be no statutory law which authorised magistrates (in Delhi) to issue a declaratory order as required under Rule (Item 8.1) of the Manual.

It seems that the rule was included in the manual on a Kerala High Court’s direction with the babus allegedly not studying its uniform applicability across the country — at least not in Delhi — as magistrates in Kerala have dual powers of civil judges unlike their counterparts in Delhi.

Coming to the rescue of Srinivasan, the magistrate said: “It is improper for the MEA to continue following the Kerala High Court and for insisting upon a declaratory decree from magistrates in Delhi which does not even fall within the competence and jurisdiction of such courts”.

When the magistrate directed the MEA to examine Srinivasan’s application without insisting upon a judicial order and noted in his order a Bombay High Court direction which empowered the passport authority itself to correct entries related to date of birth in passports, the MEA offered a fresh look after a judicial clarification.

Joint Secretary (Passports) R R Dash, who was present in the court, submitted that so far as the present applicant is concerned, the department will look into the issue involved and decide the same on merits at the earliest.