BENGALURU: A minor cannot be made to suffer on account of acrimony between the parents, the Karnataka High Court said while directing the Regional Passport Office to issue a short validity passport of eight weeks in favour of a minor child.
Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum passed the order recently while allowing the petition filed by a five-year-old girl, represented by her mother, residing in the city, seeking directions for processing the application submitted by the mother on her behalf for a passport to travel to Australia to visit her grandparents without insisting on the consent of her father.
The Regional Passport Office contended that in terms of the governing statutory framework, consent of both parents is required for issuance of a passport to a minor, and in the absence of such consent from the father, the application submitted could not be processed.
The postal tracking report revealed that the father, despite residing at the same address, had evaded the serving of the notice of the court. Noting that the parents of the minor petitioner are embroiled in matrimonial discord wherein the mother has instituted proceedings for dissolution of marriage, the court said the right of a minor child to travel, particularly for the purpose of meeting close family members, cannot be curtailed because one parent chooses to withhold consent or evade legal process.
At the same time, the apprehension of the father, though not formally articulated before this court owing to his absence, cannot be disregarded, said the court, adding that the conduct of the father prima facie indicates a conscious attempt to avoid participation.
The court directed issuance of a short validity passport, thereby safeguarding the interest of the minor while also addressing any conceivable concern of the father. At the same time, the court directed the mother of the minor girl to file an affidavit of undertaking before the passport office affirming that the minor child shall return to India within the period stipulated in the passport and shall abide by any further conditions that may be imposed.
