Prayagraj(UP), Jan 10 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court expressed shock at the extent of fabrication in the birth certificate of a petitioner who was seeking directions to the passport authority to allow his date of birth to be changed.
The two-judge bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta, instead, directed the Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj, to immediately register an FIR against him and the concerned gram panchayat officials who issued a birth certificate to him on November 4, 2025.
The court contended that the date of birth in the new certificate was fake while hearing a petition filed by Shiv Shankar Pal, who sought directions to the passport authority to change his date of birth as per the recently issued birth certificate.
When the court examined the records, it found the petitioner's claim "absurd", given that the Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad issued the high school examination certificate to him in 2011.
"It is relevant to mention that if the contention of the petitioner is accepted and the date of birth is corrected, as prayed for, to the year 2005, then the high school examination certificate would reflect that the petitioner had taken the said examination at the age of approximately six years," the court said.
The court termed the situation "shocking" and remarked that the extent of fabrication of documents was a direct result of "widespread corruption".
The court, in its order dated January 5, directed that an FIR be lodged for cheating and forgery under relevant provisions of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the petitioner and against the officials concerned of the gram panchayat who issued the birth certificate dated November 04, 2025, showing his date of birth as July 11, 2005.
The court noted that the petitioner's high school examination certificate explicitly recorded his date of birth as July 11, 1994.
The Aadhaar card originally submitted by the petitioner at the time of passport application also showed his date of birth in 1994.
However, a copy of the Aadhaar card annexed with the writ petition submitted to the high court showed his date of birth as July 11, 2005.
The court fixed January 27, 2026, as the next date of hearing in the case and warned that in the event of non-compliance, it would hold the police commissioner accountable.