Dear Sir I write from the UK on behalf of the daughter of a friend in New Delhi. This family relocated to Delhi from their village in Himachal when the daughter was age 8. The family did not have a birth certificate for her but obtained one from a person in Delhi when she started school. They thought they were obtaining a genuine certificate. In October 2016,the daughter applied for a passport and submitted the birth certificate as part of the documentation. She did not realise that the certificate was fake. At the passport office she was told the certificate was not genuine and she was advised to go and obtain a genuine certificate. She has now done this and been issued with a new certificate, but is very scared to go back to the passport office with the genuine certificate as she is worried that she will be in trouble for submitting what turned out to be a fake document originally. Would you please advise what the correct procedure should be in this instance and whether you consider she is in danger of prosecution for submitting the fake document when she first submitted the application.
1)passport office can file police complaint against your friend for obtaining fake birth certifcate .under section 420, 468 , 471 , of IPC
2) in defence they should lay the blame on agent who procured the fake birth certifcate
3) apply for passport of minor with fresh birth certifcate
4) even if your friend does not go to passport office they can still file case of cheating , fabrication of documents against her
1. Since she has obtained the birth certificate now she should apply to the Registrar of Births to cancel the earlier certificate which was seemingly forged by the agent. Once the earlier certificate is cancelled the subsequent certificate which is a genuine document can be used with full vigour.
2. Furnishing false information to the RPO while applying for passport is an offence which carries an imprisonment of up to 2 years, but if the prosecution were to be launched it would have happened till now.
1. Since they were advised to submit genuine certificate by the passport office only. it is unlikely that the passport authority would would file any case.
2. Though submission of fake public document is grave offence , on many occasion its objective is seen before filing any case.
3. Since the certificate which turned out to be fake was for the purpose of passport only any stringent action is unlikely.
4. So I do not find great risk in submitting the genuine one,more so,if there is no big change in the dates of birth in both the certificates.
Dear Concerned,
No if the document that has been obtained again is genuine - your friend's daughter need not to be scared of anything - she can apply for the passport with the new Birth Certificate which is original .
Best of Luck
Dear Sirs Many thanks for your considered responses. I just want to confirm to you that the fake certificate was obtained by the parents when the daughter was age 13. In October 2016 (she is now age 20) when she applied for a passport, the Passport Office informed her the certificate was fake and told her to where to go to obtain a genuine certificate. The new birth certificate is genuine and has been obtained from the appropriate government office.
You have to take the risk and submit the new certificate. Otherwise she will never apply for passport.
1) it is better you dont apply for passport for your daughter
2) there is mismatch in date of birth in birth certificate and in school leaving certificate
3) passport office would not issue passport on account of conflicting dates in the certificate
The dates are the same on both birth certificate and school leaving certificate.
if dates are same apply for passport on basis of new birth certificate
2) if at all you are prosecuted balme it on the agent who procured fraudulent certificate
Since the birth certificate with correct particulars has been obtained she should not apply for the cancellation of the forged certificate and then only her passport application will be processed.
Would you please advise what the correct procedure should be in this instance and whether you consider she is in danger of prosecution for submitting the fake document when she first submitted the application.
If her earlier application for passport was rejected due to the said reason,there is nothing to be worried about it now because she has obtained the new and genuine birth certificate, therefore any investigation by the passport authorities will not reveal adverse opinion about this, hence she may proceed with it as per laid down procedures.
when she applied for a passport, the Passport Office informed her the certificate was fake and told her to where to go to obtain a genuine certificate. The new birth certificate is genuine and has been obtained from the appropriate government office.
The new certificate being a genuine and authenticate one she may not worry about any other thing now.
She can very well apply for passport afresh with the genuine birth certificate, she will not be questioned anymore by the authorities.
The dates are the same on both birth certificate and school leaving certificate.
Thus the information in the certificates were not fabricated or suppressed, hence she may not be worried about it.