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Amend law of notaries: CIC to Law Ministry

Central Information Commission has recommended to the Law Ministry to amend law of notaries and update notaries system leaving no scope for falsification of records and frauds.

An RTI applicant Nand Lal had sought details of attestation done by a notary among other details. He alleged that his immovable property was fraudulently transferred by an advocate and the concerned document was attested and authenticated by Meena Sharma, Advocate-Notary appointed by Department of Legal Affairs.

The notary claimed before the CIC that the records sought by the applicants have been "eaten by termites".

"...Meena Sharma refused to give this information claiming it as third party information. When Commission directed that it should be disclosed she raised the excuse that records were lost due to termites. Appellant sought notarisation details of documents dealing with some property transactions of that period to verify the document; that if that proved false, he would suffer huge loss," Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu noted.

He said a notary who collects huge money through attestation cannot so negligently leave registers as food to termites and Notaries and Regulatory should understand that it amounts to irresponsibility towards records and inaction after the negligence is detrimental to "governance".

“The Department of Legal Affairs is the concerned authority in appointing, regulating activities of notary, renewing and removing for misconduct. Preservation of records is the primary responsibility of the notary and this public authority, under Notary Act, Public Records Act and RTI Act," he said. Terming the falsification of documents as "foremost problem" in legal disputes, Acharyulu said department of Legal Affairs cannot be so callous about it.
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