Registrar has powers to Correct Birth or Death Register

By K Rajasekharan 28 September 2022

Correction in the birth/death register possible

Correction of any entry in the Birth Register or Death Register is permissible if any factual error in any entry is revealed and brought before the Registrar of births and deaths, based on an application by a concerned party.

Registrar of birth has the power to correct

The Registrar has ample powers to make such correction, as per some judgements of the High Court of Kerala. The judgements in that connection are as follows:

Jyothi V Baby v State of Kerala [2021(4) KLT 121]
The Registrar of Births and Deaths v Thomas Jacob [2011 (3) KLT 461]
Sajil T R v State of Kerala [2019 (1) KLT 607]

In Chalakudy Municipality v Malavika [2009(4) KLT 714], the High Court of Kerala holds that law does not contemplate a person to have a wrong name in the register or a mistaken identity in the register or to have wrong particulars regarding the date of birth, place of birth etc.

The High Court in the Registrar of Births and Deaths v Thomas Jacob [2011 (3) KLT 461] states that the statutory provision providing for correction is Section 15 of the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969.

The Section 15 and the Rule 11 provide the procedures

The Section 15 of the Registration of Birth and Death Act, and the Rule 11 of the Kerala Registration of Birth and Death Rules provide the procedure for correcting the birth or death register.

The Section 15 of the law provides that if it is proved to the satisfaction of the Registrar that any entry of a birth or death in any register kept by him under the above law is erroneous in form or substance, he may, subject to such rules made by State Government with respect to the conditions on which and the circumstances in which such entries may be corrected or cancelled, correct the error or cancel the entry by suitable entry in the margin, and shall sign the marginal entry and add there to the date of the correction or cancellation.

The Rule 11 of the Kerala Registration of Birth and Death Rules, 1999 provides that if a clerical or formal error made in the register is either reported or noticed by the Registrar, he shall enquire into the matter and if he is satisfied that any error has been made, he shall correct the error in the manner provided therein.

How to file an application for correction?

If any person wants to apply for correction of any entry in the register of births and deaths, he should submit an application to the Registrar with a declaration setting forth the nature of the error and filing an affidavit by two credible persons having knowledge of the facts of the matter.

The Registrar may hold an enquiry immediately. He should not reject the application at the outset. He can do so only after he conducts the enquiry and there are grounds to do so.

On the other hand, if he finds that the facts are true, he should correct the entry in the manner prescribed under the law and the rules.

Summing up

In short, the Registrar has ample powers to make correction of any entry in the Birth Register or Death Register if any factual error in any entry is revealed or brought before the Registrar of births and deaths, by a concerned party.

Further reading