If you are a law student or a legal professional, you must have come across the term ‘notary’ or ‘notarisation’. Are you aware of what it is? It is important for a legal professional to have in-depth knowledge on notarisation of documents before they enter into practice.
In this article, Team YLCC attempts to cover all the information you need to know on Notarisation in India. Read on!
WHAT IS NOTARISATION?
In India, notarisation is the act of a Notary Public authenticating through his signature and official seal, the due execution in his presence of a deed, contract or other writing or verifying some fact or information about which the Notary Public has definite knowledge. The process of notarisation in India is covered under the Notaries Act 1952 and the Notary Rules, 1956.
DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR NOTARISATION
For notarisation in India, usually the following documents are required:
- A properly filled Application Form
- Original copies as well as organised photocopies of the legal documents sought to be notarised
- Signed Covering Letter with attestation purpose and the list of the commercial attestation document from the Company of the applicant
- Original and photocopy of applicant’s passport and agent’s passport for civil attestation purpose
- Signed Covering letter with attestation purpose and the list of the attestation document from the applicant himself/herself if it is for civil use
IMPORTANCE OF NOTARISATION
Rule 12 of the Notary Rules, 1956 prescribes that every notary shall use a plain circular seal of a diameter of 5 centimetres bearing his name, the jurisdictional area in which he has been appointed to exercise his functions, the registration number, expiry date and the circumscription ‘NOTARY’, and also the name of the Government which appointed him. The Notarial Seal acts as a seal of verification meaning that the facts mentioned and the signatures on the document are indeed authentic. It also acts as validation for the fact that the identities of the people signing the document have been verified.
The underlying purpose behind notarisation is to verify the authenticity of documents that will be involved in a legal process and preventing instances of fraud. The Notary Public is considered as an impartial witness who verifies signers and ensures that they have entered into agreements knowingly and willingly.
Under the Indian law, it is not mandatory to notarise all legal documents. However, in some cases it is compulsory for the document to be valid in court otherwise the court can render it legally unenforceable or invalid. Therefore, not notarising an important document basically means that you are running a risk of getting the document rejected and therefore going against your own personal interests.
Under the Notaries Act, 1952, the duties of a Notary Public include the following:
- Authenticating, certifying or attesting any legal document or instrument
- Administering oaths or witness swearing by deponents for affidavits
- To make translations and verify such translations of legal documents across languages
- To record evidence in criminal or civil trials and to act as Commissioner if so directed.
FEE OF NOTARISATION IN INDIA
Needless to say, anyone who is seeking to get documents notarised is required to pay a fee that has been fixed under Rule 10 of the Notaries Rules, 1956. Public Notaries are not legally permitted to charge anything that is over and above the fixed rates. Moreover, the Notary is expected under law to display these charges in a way that is visible where he or she is conducting business as well as in his or her chamber or office.
- Notarization of instruments
- INR 35/- if amount in the instrument does not exceed INR 10,000/-
- INR 75/- if the amount is between INR 10,000/- and INR 25,000/-
- INR 110/- if the amount of the instrument is between INR 25,000/- and INR 50,000/-
- INR 150/- if the amount exceeds INR 50,000/-
- Half the charge of the original for duplicate protests
- INR 15/- for verifying, certifying and attesting execution of any instrument
- INR 35/- for promissory note presentations, acceptance of payments or bills
- INR 15/- for administering/witnessing oaths or to take affidavits from deponents
- INR 150/- towards preparation of documents or instruments to be used outside the country
- INR 75/- for translation and verification of such translated document from one language to another
- INR 10/- per page for attesting a document as true copy
NOTARISATION OF FOREIGN DOCUMENTS
Apart from documents originating in India, the Indian law also covers the question of notarisation of foreign documents.
Section 14 of the Notaries Act deals with the reciprocal recognition of the Acts done by foreign notaries. This section clearly states that if the Central Government is satisfied that by the law or practice of any country or place outside India, the notarial acts done by notaries within India are recognized for all or any limited purposes in that country or place, the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare that the notarial acts lawfully done by notaries within such country or place shall be recognised within India for all purposes or, as the case may be, for such limited purposes as may be specified in the notification.
In the landmark case of Re: K.K. Ray (Private) Ltd.[1], the Calcutta High Court considered the crucial question of whether te affidavits affirmed before a Notary Public of a foreign country can be accepted within the Indian Courts. In light of Section 14 of the Notaries Act, the court referred to the reciprocity provision and held that where such provision is applicable, the affidavits are permissible in India, provided they must be duly apostilled in India. In other words, affidavit drawn on foreign soil must be apostilled for it to be considered as validly notarised in India. Moreover, the court also laid down that the document cannot be thrown out of the court just because it was not apostilled- this was considered to be a procedural irregularity which can be cured upon acknowledgement.
In conclusion, it can be said that notarisation is a very important aspect of legal processes. It is important to be entirely familiar with these processes at the very start of one’s career, otherwise it may create complications at a later stage.
YLCC would like to thank its Content Team for their valuable insights in this article.
[1] 1967 37 CompCas 737 Cal.
