The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has instructed all Notaries to refrain from executing marriage and divorce deeds since they are not authorized as Marriage Officers. An Office Memorandum from the Department of Legal Affairs has warned Notaries that such actions are illegal.
“It is brought to the notice of all concerned that the Notaries appointed under the Notaries Act 1952 desist themselves from executing marriage or divorce deeds as they are not appointed as Marriage Officers. Such actions on their part are against the extant law. Any omission or commission of the Notaries Act, 1952 or the Notaries Rules, 1956 in this regard on the part of any Notary will tantamount to misconduct and action will accordingly be taken against such Notary in accordance with the provisions contained in Notaries Act, 1952 and Notaries Rules, 1956.”
The Office Memorandum from Rajeev Kumar, Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, clarified that according to the explicit interpretation of Section 8 of the Notaries Act, 1952, and sub-rule (8) of Rule 11 of the Notaries Rules, Notaries are prohibited from executing marriage or divorce affidavits. They are not authorized to certify marriages or execute divorce deeds.
Despite this legal clarification, the Centre has observed instances of Notaries engaging in marriage and divorce-related documentation. Additionally, there have been cases of Notaries issuing Marriage Certificates, which could have serious implications.
The OM referred to the Orissa High Court’s judgment in Partha Sarathi Das v. State of Orissa & Ors, Madhya Pradesh High Court’s judgments in Mukesh S/o. Mr Lakshman @ Lakshminarayan. v. The state of M.P and Bundel Singh Lodhi vs The State Of Madhya Pradesh, which held that Notaries are not marriage officers.
The recent Supreme Court ruling in Bhagwan Singh v. State of UP highlighted that Notaries who act in violation of the Notaries Act may be subject to charges of professional misconduct.
