Big win for single moms: Gujarat HC’s landmark ruling allows passport renewal for kids sans estranged father’s consent

In a landmark ruling, the Gujarat High Court has allowed the renewal of passports of two minor children without requiring consent or a no-objection affidavit from their estranged father.

The decision has provided significant relief to their divorced mother, and single parents in general.

What is the case?

According to a Times of India report, a woman from Vadodara moved court after the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Ahmedabad denied the renewal of her children’s passports.

She said that she urgently needed to renew her kid’s passport because her elder daughter was scheduled to appear for the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) on November 8, which is mandatory for pursuing higher studies in the US.

However, the RPO, in its communication, insisted that a no-objection affidavit from the children’s father was a must for the renewal of their passports.

The woman argued that she and her estranged husband had entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) when they divorced in March 2022, which stipulated that the children were to remain with her.

According to the MoU, the father agreed to cooperate in legal matters, including providing a ‘no objection’ for the issuance of identification documents. However, she said, it was not possible to secure his consent at this stage.

The woman said that the denial of her passport renewal due to her estranged father’s lack of consent would cause “irreparable loss” to her daughter, who would miss her chance to appear for the SAT and apply to universities abroad for the upcoming academic year.

What did the Gujarat HC say?

According to the TOI report, the central government did not oppose the woman’s petition.

Gujarat HC Justice L S Pirzada cited Section 4(3) of Schedule-II of the Passport Rules, 1980, which requires consent from a single parent if the parents are separated but not formally divorced, or by court order.

He also noted that in this case, a divorce decree exists, and the MoU specifies that the children are in the mother’s custody. Consequently, he ordered the RPO to renew the passports of both minors “preferably within a week”.

“The respondent No.1 – authority (RPO) is directed to consider the application dated July 11, 2025, preferred by the petitioner No. 3 as a single parent and renew the passports of both the minor petitioners as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of one week from the date of passing of this order,” the order read.

What are rules for exclusion of father/mother name in minor’s passport?

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in the case of a minor in single-parent custody requiring exclusion of the father/mother’s name:

1. The online passport application form now permits that an applicant may provide the name of father or mother or legal guardian, i.e., only one parent and not both. This would enable single parents to apply for passports for their children and get passport(s) issued where the name of either the father or the mother is not required to be printed at the request of the applicant.

2. In case of minor children of an unwed single parent, the name of the father or the mother is not to be mentioned in the passport application and in the passport. In the case of unwed parents submitting Appendix-12, the names of both parents must be mentioned in the application form and on the passport.

3. In case of minor children of married parents, the name of father/mother shall be furnished by the other single parent having the custody of the child, irrespective of the status of their marriage, such as, divorced, divorce pending, separated or deserted, with or without visitation rights to the estranged parent.