Notary or Notary Public is a person assigned by the Central
Government or State Government under the Notaries Act, 1952. Notary or Notary
Public is authorised to carry out certain legal formalities or activities. This
would include drafting and validating contracts, deeds and other such legal
documents. The foremost role of a Notary Public is to act as an unbiased
witness while discharging fraud deterrent activities related to legaldocuments. This particular act is usually referred to as notarization.
Functions of Notary
Public in India
Duties of a Notary public are commanded by the Notaries Act,1952, and they are:-
Certify, attest or authenticate any instrument
- Instrument certification, attesting or authenticating instrument.
- Translate the legal documents from one language to another and verify such documents
- To perform the function of an arbitrator, counsellor or mediator
- To record proof/evidence in criminal or civil trials and to act as commissioner if so directed
Significance Of
Notarization:-
Rule 12 of the Notary Rules, 1956
advice that every notary shall use a plain circular seal of a diameter of 5
c.m. contains his name, the registration number, expiry date and the
circumscription ‘NOTARY’, the jurisdictional area in which he has been
appointed to exercise his functions, and also the name of the Government which
appointed him.
The Notarial seal implies the
seal of verification. It means that the facts mentioned and the signatures on
the document are indeed authentic. It validates the fact that the identities of
the people signing the document have been verified. It helps prevent fake
documents.
If a Notary seal present in a
document for any legal proceeding, it will act as confirmation for the courts
that the signatures were placed by a genuine person and not forged or
fabricated. It also proves that the individual was not forced into signing it.
As one of the many functions of a Notary Public is to witness the notarization
renders a document authentic, the document being signed, true and voluntarily
drafted in many senses.
Consequences Of Not
Notarizing A Document:-
No need to notarise all legal
documents, but some documents should be notarised and it is mandatory. For
those documents the lack of motorization can lead to the document being
declared legally unenforceable or invalid. The consequences relating to
notarisation vary from state to state in India . But if you do not notarize a
document, its legally validity and authenticity will be doubtful.
Verify Notary
public:-
Even if the Job of Notary Public
is to verify the person who is getting the document notarized, there have been
occasions where fake Notary Public was found to be using a fake notary seal. It
has become necessary to confirm the Notary Public it. You should ensure that
seal with the registration number of Notary Person is present on all documents.
