PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 763
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava : If my hon. friend made an inquiry about the rest of India, he will be disillusioned to find that Punjab is not an exception. I do not know what will be the fate of those legal practitioners who are appointed Notaries Public. Will they be allowed to practise also ?
Shri Sidhva: They are now practising.
Dr. Ambedkar: Yes, they do.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: If the kind of work envisaged in the Bill is to be put on them I think the Notary Public should keep a regular office.
Dr. Ambedkar: They have; each Notary Public has an office.
- Mr. Chairman: May I suggest, if you look at sub-clause
(2) of clause 8, it is provided that no act specified in subsection ( 1 ) shall be deemed to be a notarial act except when it is done by a Notary under his signature and official seal. I think that would go a long way to see that this has evidentiary value of the highest order.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: It means that so far as his seal and signature are concerned, they give some evidentiary value to the documents prepared. But, if you look into this Bill, there is no prohibition in the matter of appointment of Notary Public by the Government. Twenty people may be appointed in one district. They can appoint any number. This is just like the honorary magistrates affair.
Shri Sidhva: No ; not like that.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava: You are speaking with experience ; I am speaking without experience. I really want to know.
Dr. Ambedkar: You are expressing the fear of the unknown.
Pandit Thakur Das Bhargava : That is perfectly right. I do not want that an institution like this which is sought to be established in the whole of India should be accepted
*P. D. Vol. 14, Part II, 17th August 1951, pp. 840-41