New passport application…Lawyer takes Top Cop to court over birth certificate requirement
A decision by the Government to ask first time passport applicants to present a birth certificate issued within the last six
Plaintiff: Attorney-at-law Saphier Husain-Subedar
months, has sparked a court case. Prominent city lawyer, Saphier Husain-Subedar, has taken the Chief Immigration Officer to court asking that the decision to refuse birth certificates older than six months be overturned. The Chief Immigration Officer, court documents said, is none other than the Commissioner of Police, Seelall Persaud. Husain-Subedar said that he decided to file the case after he went into the Passport Office and attempted to apply for a Passport. He was turned down. Last week, Chief Justice, Ian Chang, granted an Order or Rule nisi directed at the Chief Immigration Officer, Commissioner Persaud. The Commissioner must now show cause why a final court order should not be issued to quash the decision of Immigration Officer, Mr. Parris No. 21356, on June 18th, who refused to accept a birth certificate tendered as part of the new Passport application, by the lawyer. In the court action, the lawyer is also asking that the court direct the Immigration Office to accept his birth certificate as is and consider his application and to issue an electronic machine readable passport to him. The matter is coming up again on July 8th. According to the court documents, Husain-Subedar, of Broom Hall, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, said that he has a birth certificate No. 1 of Division/Centre 5, Mahaicony and issued on 2004/01/22. His name on that certificate is stated as Saphier Husain. On March 8th, 2013, the lawyer said he adopted the name “Subedar”, after his grandfather from India. The lawyer said he is an Attorney-at-Law admitted to practice in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago in October 1986 and in Guyana in June 1987. “I practiced with the name of Saphier Husain. That in January, 2013 I have now completed National Committee of Accreditation Exams in the Dominion of Canada and was awarded the N.C.A. Certificate in the name of Saphier Husain Subedar.” The lawyer said he has been practising for over 27 years in Guyana and is also a rice and cattle farmer. “I also engaged in religious Lay Ministry in Guyana and in the Province of Ontario Canada. That as a resident of Canada and also because of professional reasons I have to travel frequently to various international locations. That I was issued Passport No. 1066917 issued on 19th March, 2004 which has now expired.” Rejected! On June 18th, Husain-Subedar said that he visited the Immigration Office in Camp Street, Georgetown with the required application form completed. He was in the company of a legal clerk, Frank Cole. Husain-Subedar also had in his possession a copy of the Deed Poll, a document showing his name change, and his old Passport, issued on March 19th, 2004.
Police Commissioner, Seelall Persaud
He had two passport size photos certified by Michael Somersall, Attorney-at-Law, and the required $4,000 fee. Husain-Sudedar said that he presented the documents to Immigration Officer, Mr. Parris No. 21356, “who rejected the application on the grounds that the birth certificate was not valid for said application, since it was issued in 2004/01/22 and not within the last six months.” The lawyer said he asked on what authority he was being rejected and the Immigration Officer replied that he was instructed by his senior officers to do so. “That I told said Immigration Officer that his rejection is wrong in law and violated my Constitutional right… to withhold freedom of movement as guaranteed under Article 148 of the Constitution of Guyana 1980 as amended i.e – the right to enter Guyana and the right to leave Guyana.” Within the Law Husain-Subedar said that he did his research and believed that his birth certificate issued under the Registration of Births and Deaths Chapter 44:01 of the Laws of Guyana cannot be invalidated except by law or an amendment of the constitution. “That I am informed and verily believe that I may not be able by regular process to get a new birth certificate before the next six months. That I am informed and verily believe that several persons may get the birth certificate within a few weeks by payment of a huge sum of money. That the requirement of a new birth certificate is for ulterior motive, denial of a passport, violation of the right to travel and personal liberty guaranteed under Act 139 of the Constitution of Guyana as decided by the Supreme Court of India in the case of Satwant Singh Sawhney Vs. D. Ramaratham, Assistant Passport Officer, 1967 SCR (2) 525– (India)…” Husain-Subedar said that as a result of the decision, he cannot freely travel to and from Guyana, as is his constitutional right. Rather this right is being contravened by “said refusal to grant me a passport because of the requirement of a birth certificate issued within the last six months.” The lawyer said that he conducted “diligent” research and found “no law, regulation, rule, publication in the Official Gazette, official publication in any newspapers circulating in Guyana requiring a birth certificate issued within the last six months as a prerequisite to the issuance of a passport. He also contended that Guyana does not even have a Passport Act, like in the case of India and Lesotho. “That the Chief Immigration Officer and subordinate officers are acting in excess of their jurisdiction and failure to carry out their statutory duty under the Immigration Act of the Laws of Guyana. Wherefore I advised myself and verily believed that I am entitled to a Writ of Certiorari and Mandamus to quash the said above decision and to command the Chief Immigration Officer and subordinate officers, their servants and agents and everyone of them to issue an electronic machine readable passport to me by law.” The birth certificate issue has been a contentious one since it came to light earlier this month. In a statement, the Home Affairs Ministry had said that the machine readable passport was introduced in 2007 and to ensure that the passport was less susceptible to forgery, the directive coming from the Guyana Police Force was given for applicants to furnish birth certificates no older than six months. The Ministry outlined that for integrity purposes, it is now reinforcing its policy directive originally given to the Guyana Police Force. “This process is necessary to enable Guyana to comply with international best practices and prevent illegal use of travel documents.” APNU Shadow Minister of Public Works and Telecommunications, Joseph Harmon, had said however that it is “a most ridiculous requirement. If you are a first-time applicant for the passport, what will a recently issued birth certificate do to enhance one’s integrity? How does the old one diminish one’s eligibility for the passport? In making rules we have to be sensible.”
