Wife need not obtain husband’s signature to apply for passport: Madras High Court

The Madras High Court has heavily criticised the Regional Passport Office in Chennai for insisting a woman who had applied for passport to obtain her husband’s signature in Form J. It has said that women cannot be treated as chattels belonging to their husbands.

Justice N. Anand Venkatesh expressed shock over a writ petition filed by a woman who claimed that the Chennai RPO was not processing her application for passport without obtaining the signature of her estranged husband who had filed a divorce case against her before a local court.

Stating that the writ petitioner’s application must have been considered independently, the judge categorically held that “it is not necessary for a wife to get the permission of her husband and take his signature before applying for a passport before the authority concerned.”

He went on to state: “This insistence made by the second respondent (Chennai RPO) shows the mindset of the society in treating woman who are married as if they are chattel belonging to the husband. It is quite shocking that the passport office is insisting for the permission of the husband and his signature in a particular form in order to process the application submitted by the petitioner for passport.”

Observing it would be virtually impossible for the petitioner to obtain her husband’s signature on the application in view of the strained relationship between them, the judge said, the petitioner could not be considered to have lost her individuality immediately after marriage.

“The practice of insisting for permission from the husband to apply for passport, does not augur well for a society moving towards woman emancipation. This practise is nothing short of male supremacism,” the judge said and directed the RPO to process the petitioner’s application without her husband’s signature.