In this view of the matter,
the Registrar General is directed to issue
administrative instructions to all the concerned
oath officers working in this Court and also to
all the Districts and Sessions Courts and the
Courts working thereunder at taluka places not to
administer oath or to accept one or two page bare
affidavit unless the same is in the form of
affirmation at the foot of petition or application
or accompanied with the petition or application in
support of which it is affirmed; with further
direction to see that each and every page bears
seal and signature or initial of the oath officer.
It is also necessary to issue directions
to the State of Maharashtra and all the District
Judges to issue necessary directions to all the
Notaries as indicated hereinabove since the
Notaries are expected to work and operate under
the supervision of the State Government as well as
respective District Judges under whose
jurisdiction they are practising as Notary Public.
The District Judges are also expected to keep
supervision on their working as per the provisions
of the Notaries Act, 1952. At the same time, all
the District Judges are expected to appraise all
the Notary Public practising in their jurisdiction
to follow these directions, if necessary, by
issuing administrative circular in this behalf.
IN THE HIGH COURT OF BOMBAY
CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 742/2005 IN WRIT PETITION NO.822/ 2004
Shri Sadashiv Shankar Bhise. V/s. State of Maharashtra.
DECIDED ON:13DECEMBER 2005
CORUM;V C DAGA
While hearing this civil application, it
has come to my notice that one Shri S.D.Dhanavate,
Notary, State of Maharashtra, Pune had
administered oath to the affiant when the
affidavit was not accompanied with the subject
civil application. This is evident from the fact
that the affidavit is dated 11th July, 2004
whereas civil application itself appears to have
been drafted and prepared on 8th September, 2004
i.e. subsequent to the date of affidavit on which
the Notary had put his seal evidencing
administration of oath to the affiant.
In absence of civil application, Shri
Dhanavate, Notary could not have administered oath
to the affiant to affirm one or two pages
affidavit i.e. a bare affidavit. Such act on the
part of the Notary amounts to negligence in
discharge of his duty.
It is not uncommon that in various taluka
and district courts including the places at
Mumbai, Nagpur and Aurangabad the oath officers or
Registrars of the District and Sessions Courts or
Registrars at High Court administer oath to the
affiant when the affidavit is not accompanied with
petition or application in support of which it is
affirmed. The practice of administering oath to
the affiant without the affidavit being
accompanied with the petition or application (in
support of which it is made) gives rise to the
various types of manipulations and malpractices
including that of insertion and/or removal of
pages from the petition or application.
At this juncture, it will not be out of
place to mention that while presiding over
Division Bench at Nagpur on 8th January, 2003 I
had come across similar types of affidavits in
Writ Petition Nos.2963/2001 and 3016/2001. In
those petitions, the oath officer had administered
oath to the petitioners even though the respective
affidavits were not accompanied with the
respective petitions. Consequently, in those
petitions, vide order dated 8th January, 2003,
directions were issued to all the District and
Sessions Courts falling within the jurisdiction of
the Nagpur Bench not to accept one or two pages
bare affidavit for administering oath to the
affiant unless the affidavit is accompanied by the
substantive petition or application. Copies of
the said order were also sent to all the District
and Sessions Judges falling within the
jurisdiction of the Nagpur Bench for necessary
action so as to arrest such unhealthy practice.
At 5. the same time, directions were also
issued to the registry of the Bench at Nagpur not
to accept any presentation of any petition or
application unless each page of the petition carry
seal and signature of the oath officer or Notary.
Directions were also given not to accept any
defective petition or application having defective
affidavit.
While 6. sitting at Mumbai, I have also come
across number of such cases wherein applications
or petitions are accompanied by defective or
improper affidavits. In this view of the matter,
the Registrar General is directed to issue
administrative instructions to all the concerned
oath officers working in this Court and also to
all the Districts and Sessions Courts and the
Courts working thereunder at taluka places not to
administer oath or to accept one or two page bare
affidavit unless the same is in the form of
affirmation at the foot of petition or application
or accompanied with the petition or application in
support of which it is affirmed; with further
direction to see that each and every page bears
seal and signature or initial of the oath officer.
It is also necessary to issue directions
to the State of Maharashtra and all the District
Judges to issue necessary directions to all the
Notaries as indicated hereinabove since the
Notaries are expected to work and operate under
the supervision of the State Government as well as
respective District Judges under whose
jurisdiction they are practising as Notary Public.
The District Judges are also expected to keep
supervision on their working as per the provisions
of the Notaries Act, 1952. At the same time, all
the District Judges are expected to appraise all
the Notary Public practising in their jurisdiction
to follow these directions, if necessary, by
issuing administrative circular in this behalf.
Copies of this order be sent to the
Secretary, Law and Judiciary, Government of
Maharashtra and also all the District Judges to
enable them to issue necessary directions to all
the Notary Public practising in their jurisdiction
not to administer oath to the affiant if the
affidavit is not accompanied with the substantive
petition or civil application.
So far as the application at hand is
concerned, since it does not have proper
affidavit, the application is rejected. However,
it would be open for the applicant to move proper
application supported by proper affidavit.
Civil application stands disposed in terms
of this order with no order as to costs.
Copy of this order be sent to the
Registrar General for information and action.
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