The Allahabad High Court has questioned the unauthorised charges for affidavit swearing and appointed the amicus curiae to examine legality.
The bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia has observed that the power of identification has been delegated to the Bar Association, who are empowered to charge an amount of Rs.125/- and in addition to the said amount, an amount of Rs.400/- goes to the account of the lawyer concerned directly from the photo centre. Prima facie, the collection of the said amount is neither sanctioned by any law nor is it in consonance to Article 265 of the Constitution of India.
The petitioner had to seek an adjournment as the affidavit as required to be sworn in could not be sworn as the deponent of the affidavit could not come to Lucknow for photo identification and swearing of the affidavit.
A query was raised as to why the affidavit could not be filed after getting the same sworn from the Notary public under the Notaries Act, 1952 at the place where the deponent was residing.
A brief note has been prepared by Sri Tushar Mittall to state that although, there is no bar of the notaries swearing the affidavits in terms of the specific provisions contained under the Notaries Act, 1952, however, in practice, the Registry accepts only the affidavit, which are sworn before the Oath Commissioner appointed under Chapter IV of the Allahabad High Court Rules and it is incumbent that a photograph be taken at the Photo Centre prior to ascertaining the veracity of the deponent signing the affidavit. Prima facie, the non- acceptance of the affidavit deposed before the Notary under the Notaries Act is not permissible under the Allahabad High Court Rules also.
The court while considering the fact that daily the Court is faced with the inconvenience caused to the litigants who come either at Allahabad or at Lucknow for visiting the photo centre to swear the affidavit and only then the affidavit can be said to be properly sworn in terms of the provisions of the Rules, is contrary to the provisions of the Notaries Act but also prima facie, beyond the powers conferred by Chapter IV Rule 3 of the Allahabad High Court Rules.
The court appointed the Counsel for the petitioner Sri Tushar Mittall as Amicus Curiae to assist the Court on the issue of swearing of the affidavit. He shall serve a copy of the petition along with the note so prepared to Mr. Gaurav Mehrotra, Advocate who appears for the High Court, who shall also assist the Court along with necessary office memorandums passed in this regard and would try to justify the imposition of the cost on the litigants for swearing of the affidavit.
Case Details
Case Title: M/S Rajdhani Inter State Transport Co. Versus State Of U.P.
Case No.: WRIT – C No. – 3389 of 2025
Date: 16.4.2025
Counsel For Petitioner: Tushar Mittal,Kartikey Dubey,Shrikant Tripathi
Counsel For Respondent: C.S.C.
Read More: Govt Not To Levy GST on UPI transactions Above Rs. 2,000
