Observing that a minor child cannot be made to suffer owing to acrimony between estranged spouses, the High Court of Karnataka directed passport authorities to issue a short-validity passport to a five-year-old without insisting on the father’s consent, enabling travel with her mother to meet grandparents abroad, subject to the condition that the mother ensures the child’s return to India before expiry of passport.

Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the order on a petition filed by the child, represented by her mother. The minor’s passport application was not processed by the passport authority due to the absence of the father’s consent, a requirement under the governing statutory framework for minors.

To Australia

The petitioner’s counsel argued that the mother and child intended to travel to Australia to meet the child’s grandparents during the summer vacation. The counsel highlighted the urgency, submitting that any further delay would irreparably prejudice the minor’s interests. The court was also informed that the parents are embroiled in matrimonial litigation, with dissolution proceedings, initiated by the wife, pending before a competent court.

Interestingly, the court noted that the father, despite residing at the same address, had deliberately evaded service of notice, indicating a conscious attempt to avoid judicial proceedings.

While the passport authority told the court that consent of both parents is ordinarily mandatory, the High Court, relying upon a judgement of the Allahabad High Court on interpretation of the Passport Rules, 1980, said that that rigid insistence on dual consent of parents cannot defeat a minor’s legitimate rights when one parent unreasonably withholds consent.

To meet close family

“The right of a minor child to travel, particularly for the purpose of meeting close family members, cannot be curtailed merely because one parent chooses to withhold consent or evade the legal process. At the same time, the apprehension of father, though not formally articulated before this court owing to his absence, cannot be completely disregarded,” Justice Magadum observed.

Balancing the father’s unarticulated concerns with the child’s immediate needs, the court directed the issuance of a short validity passport limited to eight weeks while directing the child’s mother to file an undertaking affirming that the minor will return to India within the stipulated period.

Additional conditions

While directing the passport authority to dispatch the child’s passport within a week, the court gave liberty to the authority to impose additional conditions as per the law while issuing a passport for the child.