Divorced Why Passport Authorities Force You Indian Courts

The Delhi High Court recently held that passport authorities cannot insist on a separate declaratory decree from an Indian court before updating passport records on the basis of a foreign divorce decree that is otherwise valid and conclusive under Indian law.... Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav allowed a plea filed by an Indian citizen residing in Canada, and directed the passport authorities to process his request to delete the name of his former spouse from his passport records. “Once the foreign divorce decree is independently found to satisfy the requirements of Section 13 of the CPC and the principles laid down in Y Narasimha Rao, the respondent authorities could not have insisted, in a pedantic and mechanical manner, upon a separate declaratory decree from an Indian Court without demonstrating any legal infirmity in the said decree,” the court noted in its order dated May 29. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the insistence of passport authorities requiring the parties to obtain a declaratory decree from an Indian Court, even in cases where the foreign divorce has been granted by mutual consent, is contrary to the law laid down by the Supreme Court. It was further argued that the said insistence is also contrary to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, 1961. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that the foreign divorce decree passed by the foreign court is conclusive and binding within the meaning of Section 13 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, particularly since both parties were residing in Canada at the relevant time and the decree was passed with consent and participation of both sides. The court noted that the conjoint effect of Sections 13 and 14 CPC is that a foreign judgment ordinarily carries a presumption of conclusiveness and validity unless the party assailing the same can establish that the case falls within any of the exceptions contemplated under Section 13 CPC. It observed that the decree was passed with the participation and consent of both parties and was not an ex parte determination. The court also emphasised that the ex-wife of the petitioner neither disputed the validity and binding nature of the aforesaid foreign divorce decree nor questioned the dissolution of marriage recorded thereunder. The court ruled that once the foreign divorce decree is independently found to satisfy the requirements of Section 13 of the CPC, the respondent authorities could not have insisted upon a separate declaratory decree from an Indian court without showing any legal infirmity in the said decree. Allowing the plea, the court directed authorities to consider petitioner’s request for passport updation without insisting upon a separate declaratory decree from an Indian Court. Ashish Shaji is a Senior Sub-Editor at The Indian Express, where he specializes in legal journalism. Combining a formal education in law with years of editorial experience, Ashish provides authoritative coverage and nuanced analysis of court developments and landmark judicial decisions for a national audience. Expertise Legal Core Competency: Ashish is a law