Lok Sabha Question No. 1476 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Appointment of Central Notary/Notary Public
Ministry: LAW AND JUSTICE
Asked by: Shriniwas Dadasaheb Patil, Imtiaz Jaleel Syed

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LAW & JUSTICE

## DEPARTMENT OF LEGAL AFFAIRS

******

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1476

## TO BE ANSWERED ON FRIDAY, THE 10 th  FEBURARY, 2023

## Appointment of Central Notary/Notary Public

## 1476. SHRI  SHRINIWAS  PATIL:

## SHRI  SYED IMTIAZ JALEEL:

## Will the Minister of LAW AND JUSTICE be pleased to state:

(a)  the  criteria  adopted  for  selection  of  Central  Notary/Notary  Public  for  the  State Governments along with the powers delegated to them and tenure of the services fixed as per the Notary Act;

(b) the number of applications received from various States and advocates in connection with the appointment of Notaries during the last three years and the current year, Statewise including Maharashtra;

- (c) the number of appointments made and pending along with their present status during the above period, State-wise and the reasons for pendency; and
- (d)  whether  the  procedure  for  appointment  of  Notary  Public  in  the  country  has  been disrupted due to COVID-19 and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF LAW AND JUSTICE

## (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a): Rule 3 of the Notary Rules 1956 provides for eligibility criteria for appointment as Notary  Public  that  in  case  of  General  Category,10  years  of  experience  as  Legal Practitioner  is  required  and  in  case  of  SC/ST/OBC/Women  Category,  7  years  of experience as Legal Practitioner is required.

With regard to delegation of power to Notary Public it is stated that Section 3 of Notary Act,  1952  deals  with  the  power  to  appoint  Notaries-  The  Central  Government,  for  the whole or any part of India, and State Government, for the whole or any part of the State, may  appoint  as  notaries  any  legal  practitioners  or  other  persons  who  possess  such qualifications as my be prescribed.

Tenure  of  the  service  fixed  as  per  Notary  Rules,  1956  is  mentioned  in  Rule  8  (4), according to this sub-rule- Where the application is allowed, the appropriate Government shall appoint the applicant as a Notary and direct his name to be entered in the Register of Notaries maintained by that Government under section 4 of the Act and issue to him a certificate on payment of prescribed fees authorizing him to practise in the area to which the application relates or in such part thereof as the appropriate Government may specify in the certificate, as a Notary for a period of 5 year from the date on which the certificate is issued to him.

(b) to (d): the number of applications received from the various states during last three years  and the  current  year  and  number  of  appointment  made  and  pending is  placed  at Annexure-I.

Yes  Sir,  the  procedure  for  appointment  of  Notary  Public  in  the  country  has  been disturbed due to COVID-19, position is mentioned as under:-

2020No  interview  Boards  were  constituted  for  conducting  of  interview  for  any  of State/UT in this year.

2021Interviews were conducted for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.

2022Interviews were conducted for the Union Territory of Puducherry in the month of July, 2022, wherein 128 candidates/ applicants were appointed as Notaries by the Central Government

To promote the vision of Hon'ble PM of digital India and taking into consideration the Covid-19  situation  and  to  facilitate  the  citizens,  the  Department  of  Legal  Affairs  first time conducted Online interviews for the State of Himachal Pradesh, wherein out of 685 applicants 367 were appointed as Notaries by the Central Government.Thereafter online interviews were also conducted for the state of Gujarat, wherein out of 9198 applicants 1236 were appointed as Notaries by the Central Government.

Current Year (2023)For the State of Karnataka Document Verifications were held for over 5526 candidates and the process of online interviews is scheduled for the month of February,  2023.The  process  of  inviting  applications  for  the  appointment  of  notaries  is already done through online mode.

## Annexure-I

| S. No.   | State Name                               | Number of Applications Received During Last Three Years and in Current Year   | Number of Applications Received During Last Three Years and in Current Year   | Number of Applications Received During Last Three Years and in Current Year   | Number of Applications Received During Last Three Years and in Current Year   | Number of Appointment of Notaries During Last 3 Years   |
|----------|------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
| S. No.   | State Name                               | 2020                                                                          | 2021                                                                          | 2022                                                                          | 2023                                                                          | Number of Appointment of Notaries During Last 3 Years   |
| 1        | Andaman &Nicobar                         | 0                                                                             | 4                                                                             | 0                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 2        | Andhra Pradesh                           | 284                                                                           | 3578                                                                          | 18                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 3        | Arunachal Pradesh                        | 0                                                                             | 15                                                                            | 16                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 4        | Assam                                    | 2                                                                             | 406                                                                           | 2                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 5        | Bihar                                    | 16                                                                            | 238                                                                           | 630                                                                           |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 6        | Chandigarh                               | 10                                                                            | 76                                                                            | 4                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 7        | Chhattisgarh                             | 595                                                                           | 2682                                                                          | 1                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 8        | Dadra And Nagar Haveli And Daman And DIU | 3                                                                             | 6                                                                             | 0                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 9        | Delhi                                    | 102                                                                           | 989                                                                           | 40                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 10       | Gao                                      | 1                                                                             | 306                                                                           | 2                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 11       | Gujarat                                  | 5483                                                                          | 3016                                                                          | 20                                                                            |                                                                               | 1236                                                    |
| 12       | Haryana                                  | 291                                                                           | 1218                                                                          | 128                                                                           |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 13       | Himachal Pradesh                         | 25                                                                            | 656                                                                           | 4                                                                             |                                                                               | 367                                                     |
| 14       | Jammu And Kashmir                        | 176                                                                           | 0                                                                             | 4                                                                             |                                                                               | 91                                                      |
| 15       | Jharkhand                                | 29                                                                            | 552                                                                           | 9                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 16       | Karnataka                                | 399                                                                           | 4788                                                                          | 61                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 17       | Kerala                                   | 85                                                                            | 2048                                                                          | 18                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 18       | Ladakh                                   | 0                                                                             | 9                                                                             | 0                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 19       | Lakshadweep                              | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 1                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 20       | Madhya Pradesh                           | 183                                                                           | 3219                                                                          | 34                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 21       | Maharashtra                              | 1205                                                                          | 15686                                                                         | 22                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 22       | Manipur                                  | 0                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 1                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 23       | Meghalaya                                | 0                                                                             | 4                                                                             | 7                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 24       | Mizoram                                  | 0                                                                             | 1                                                                             | 0                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 25       | Nagaland                                 | 1                                                                             | 0                                                                             | 5                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 26       | Odisha                                   | 25                                                                            | 456                                                                           | 14                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 27       | Puducherry                               | 2                                                                             | 221                                                                           | 1                                                                             |                                                                               | 128                                                     |
| 28       | Punjab                                   | 201                                                                           | 1466                                                                          | 39                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 29       | Rajasthan                                | 526                                                                           | 4756                                                                          | 64                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 30       | Tamilnadu                                | 197                                                                           | 10035                                                                         | 37                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 31       | Telangana                                | 43                                                                            | 1969                                                                          | 13                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 32       | Tripura                                  | 3                                                                             | 30                                                                            | 0                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 33       | Uttar Pradesh                            | 236                                                                           | 3599                                                                          | 40                                                                            |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 34       | Uttarakhand                              | 7                                                                             | 138                                                                           | 5                                                                             |                                                                               |                                                         |
| 35       | West Bengal TOTAL                        | 47 10177                                                                      | 1105 63272                                                                    | 8 1248                                                                        | NIL                                                                           | 1822                                                    |