02-07-2025
Centre to file review plea against Madras HC order dispensing with husband's signature in passport form
The Union Ministry of External Affairs has decided to file a review petition seeking a clarification with respect to a recent ruling passed by the Madras High Court that married women need not obtain husband's signature in Form J while applying for passport.
Appearing before Justice N. Anand Venkatesh on Wednesday (July 2, 2025), Additional Solicitor General AR.L. Sundaresan said, the passport authorities insist on the husband's signature only to avoid malpractices of obtaining a passport with false details regarding the spouse's name.
He said, there was an office memorandum to that effect. 'Sometimes, applicants obtain passports by mentioning a third person's name as their spouse and use the details entered in the passport as evidence elsewhere. That is the reason we want to file a review,' he added.
The judge accepted his request and agreed to hear the review petition as and when it gets listed.
While allowing a writ petition filed by a woman applicant from Chennai, the judge on June 18, 2025, observed that married women could not be treated as chattels belonging to their husbands.
Since the petitioner before the court was facing a divorce case against her husband, the judge had pointed out that it would be next to impossible for her to obtain her husband's signature in Form J. He had also stated that women could not be considered to have lost their individuality after marriage.
