THE Madras High Court recently held that a woman does not lose her individuality after marriage and has the full legal right to apply for a passport without her husband’s permission or signature.
Justice N Anand Venkatesh observed that the practice of insisting on a husband’s permission to apply for a passport does not augur well for a society striving for women’s emancipation and is nothing short of male supremacism.
It was hearing a plea by one J Revathy, whose passport application had been kept in abeyance by the Regional Passport Office (RPO) in Chennai, on the ground that her husband had not signed the application form (Form-J).
Revathy had married one Mohanakrishnan in 2023 and had a child the following year. Due to matrimonial disputes, the husband had filed for divorce, which was pending adjudication.
In the meantime, Revathy applied for a passport in April but the passport office declined to process her application without her husband’s signature. Aggrieved, she approached Madras High Court for relief.
The court took strong exception to the conduct of RPO and emphasised that a woman retains her legal individuality post-marriage and has an independent right to make decisions about her life.
It observed that the insistence by the RPO for getting husbands signature in order to process her passport reflects a societal mindset that views married women as chattel belonging to their husbands.
Accordingly, it directed the passport authorities to process her application and issue the passport within four weeks, provided other formalities are satisfied.
