(a) the criteria adopted for appointment as Notary Public by the Government;
(b) the State-wise number of applications received by the Government for appointment as Notary Public since November 1, 2002;
(c) the number of persons appointed as Notary Public out of these applications;
(d) whether Notary Public are appointed on the basis of first-cum-first serve; and
(e) if not, the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF STATE FOR LAW AND JUSTICE (SHRI P.C. THOMAS)
(a) The criteria for appointing a Notary Public are laid down under the Notaries Act, 1952 and the Notaries Rules, 1956.
Under Section 3 of the said Act, the Central Government as well as the State Governments are empowered to appoint Notaries.
The Central Government has power to appoint Notaries for the whole or any part of India, whereas a State Government is
empowered to appoint Notaries for the whole or any part of the State concerned. Under Rule 3 of the Notaries Rules, a person
from amongst legal practitioners may apply for appointment as a notary, if he has been practising as such for 10 years. In
case the applicant for notaryship is a person belonging either to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward
Classes or a women, then the condition for eligibility for appointment as a notary is 7 years of legal practice. A person is
also eligible for appointment as a notary if he has been a member of Indian Legal Service under the Central Government or if
he has been for ten years, a member of Judicial Service, or held an office under the Central Government or a State Government
requiring special knowledge of law after enrolment as an Advocate or held an office in the Department of Judge Advocate General
or in the legal department of the Armed Forces. The eligible persons may apply for appointment as notary on a prescribed form i.e.
Memorial, which has to be countersigned by a Magistrate, a Bank Manager, a Merchant and two promonent local residents. The
Competent Authority appointed by the Central Government thereafter examines the Memorial and calls for comments/objections
from the State Bar Council where the memorialist is enrolled as an advocate. The applicant is also requested to submit an affidavit
deposing that he is neuther a notary already appointed by any State Government nor his application for appointment as Notary
is pending with the concerned State Government and also state the number of courts and the number of notaries in the
desired area of practice. After considering the objections and the various facts mentioned in Rule 7 of Notaries Rules, a
decision to recommend for appointment or otherwise of the applicant is taken by the Competent Authority. On receipt of the
report of the Competent Authority, the Central Government after considering the same takes an appropriate decision.
(b) & (c) The State-wise number of applications received by the Government for appointment as Notary Public
since November 1, 2002 and the number of persons appointed as Notary Public out of these applications are as per the
Statement annexed.
(d) & (e) Each memorial is considered on its own merits.
Annexure
Statement as mentioned in reply to parts (b) & (c) of the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1769 for answer on 1.8.2003.
Sl.No. Name of the State Applications Received Notaries appointed
1 Andhra Pradesh 09 2 Assam 3 Bihar 18 4 Gujarat 24 03 5 Kerala 35 01 6 Madhya Pradesh 16 01 7 Tamil Nadu 13 8 Maharashtra 94 21 9 Karnataka 55 04 10 Orissa 01 11 Punjab 80 08 12 Rajasthan 46 10 13 Uttar Pradesh 127 24 14 West Bengal 20 04 15 J & K 16 Nagaland 17 Haryana 83 12 18 Himachal Pradesh 19 Manipur 20 Tripura 01 21 Meghalaya 22 Sikkim 23 Mizoram 24 Arunachal Pradesh 25 Goa 26 Uttaranchal 03 27 Chhattisgarh 02 28 Jharkhand 29 Delhi 35 04 30 A & Nicobar 31 Lakshadweep 32 D & N Haveli 33 Daman & Diu 34 Pondicherry 35 Chandigarh 02