Certified True copy
Welcome back!
I realized the anachronism associated with “to be attested by a gazetted officer” only when I came across a certificate copy from the pre-photostat era. The copy that I saw was a typed out copy with text (EMBLEM) in place of the university emblem.
Attestation by a gazette officer is a vestige of the Raj, the times when the Remingtons and the Adler Royals ruled; and when hand-written copies were also in vogue. When Photostat machines became popular, the law makers did not take pains in changing the attestation rule. No one questioned, or nothing happened if at all someone did.
Since gazetted officers were the only govt. servants respectable through the eyes of the Raj, they were entrusted the duty of attestation.
Cut to present. With two generations post the Raj, in a nation where working for private companies or doing business no longer makes you a crook or not respectable, why continue with this age old norm? When photostat copies can create copies better than originals, is attesting by a gazetted officer still relevant? When top class scanners and printers can forge any certificate, is this procedure relevant?
Self attestation should be enough to prove the authenticity of a Photostat document, right?
So, the next time you walk into someone’s office or your neighbor house to get a document attested, realize that you are taking steps back wards into history.
Post script:Even Ajmal Kasab can get a residence certificate in Bengaluru.Head to BDA Complex,Koramangala.The Notary takes just 20 rupees to issue a certificate of residence without any documents.*
*Added later:In this case,the notary means that Mr.X took an oath under him and is attesting what Mr.X told him.(via Seema Rajan)
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Tags: attested, bureaucracy, certified true copy, gazetted officer, red tape
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24 comments
Blogged after a month’s gap; on attestations by Gazetted officers http://is.gd/nyQp
A lot of things are continuing to be followed from the British Raj with no questions or efforts made to change. Politicians are busy doing important work like changing name of the cities, they don’t have time for such stupid bills they could work on and pass
Won’t the notary get into trouble if the claim is found to be false? At least that’s how I recall it. When the gazetted officer signs it s/he authenticates it with their authority.
Sixty two years on, perhaps it is time Indians stopped blaming the British for everything
In the interest of fairness.
In Britain, if you need your identity verified for any purposes, your doctor or banker, who presumably know you, will need to do it. For certified copies such as for making admission applications for Uni courses, one can go to a notary or a lawyer who charge an arm and a leg to notarise documents. But these occasions are rare.
If you want to read more about the bureaucratic madness of the machinery as well as the laisser-faire attitude of the citizenry of India, read MadMomma’s recent account of trying to get a PAN card.
Give’s the old geezers something to live off..and this is a part of tradition..I remember how many times I’ve asked my Dad for getting my 10th and 12th certs for so many damn things..like paspport/college interview/job..lol..I’ve made about 100 so far!
ha ha attesting school certificates/mark sheets were part of college life.. Let the govt officials also be happy.. someone giving them some respect
How much authority would a gazetted officer have anyway? I wonder if the gazetted officers’ credentials have been attested by anyone to begin with, and how?
g
I would give some value to this process of attestation only if the official cares to compare the photocopy with original letter by letter for any possible manipulations and then only attest.
But they seldom check…
How true!
This kind of farce has been going on and on and on for ages now. Whatz the point of all these exercises when this practice has created more questions than answers?
nice article ..never really thought about this…and I gues so did the govt. and other organisations
nice blog!!
Well, historically the theory of attestation and notarisation is not even British. Its Roman and derives origin from the word notarius. Since Brits have a common law system(i.e. judge made laws) they tend to adopt various systems from all over the globe to suit their legal system. India too being a commonwealth country opted for common law system so naturally some elements tend to filter through whether relevant or not. The system is in fact very effective at ground levels. Think of a situation where you have to give your originals to someone, pretty sure no one would like to part with the original documents rights. That is where the concept of notarization and attestation kicks in. Someone responsible is actually verifying your document that you claim to be original and he believes to be original using his prudence and validating the fact that he has seen it and putting a rubber stamp on the copy.
To answer Arby’s question: No, the notary or the attesting gazetted officer is not there sitting with a magnifying glass to assess the documents as original or fake cos they are public officers and not law enforcement people. If knowingly they attest a fraud document then they can be in trouble otherwise not.
Gauri’s question: If one doesn’t have credentials to attest or notarize a document then that accounts for fraud and is an offence punishable by law with fine or incarceration or with both.
As far as Qasab getting a residence certificate without documents if there is ample proof that he made a false oath we can add that too in his chargesheet but the notary still escapes because he stamped only the fact that someone by the name of Qasab took an oath before him.
Phew, that was a long comment!!!
Old habits die hard .. thats all I can say
This is always a pain…searching for a gazetetd officer and getting it attested…some things never change, maybe this is one of those
notarization & attestation is popular everywhere, even here in the USA.
all is provides is a legal hook in case the issue lands up in courts – you swore in front of a notary that the data you provided is right. that is the point.
again certified true copy compares the original provided & the copy and confirm the second to be a reasonable true facsimile. The origin of the original is not authenticated by the attester – right?
hehe…govt. official should have SOME work to do, no? let them attest away!
Nikhil,
Fully agree with your views. Can understand your frustrations.
Not sure if you have heard this – ‘Of three things the devil makes a salad: advocate’s tongues, notaries’ fingers, and a third that shall be nameless’
Keep them coming.
Cheers,
Salil
..and there are some levels within that isnt it? some chaps can certify some, others can certify all. i have been chucked from one office to another a bunch of times. the so called letter of the law.
Attestation still serves a purpose. It is a practical way for government to confirm that photstat copy is true and not fudged. ( photostat or ptintouts can be fudged easily). It is not a fool proof method but it works.
The Notary’s job is the coolest one. In legal parlance, I suppose it means ‘No Try’!
In India There is no need to rome here and there for gazetted officers. If we give money……
@Dinesh
Thanks,the evils of the Raj
@ArbyK
Apparently not, he is just stating this is what I understand
@Shefaly
Thanks, will read.
@Raghav
@Dhanya
They deserve respect,not sure if attestation makes them feel respected.
@g
Being in the govt. implies credentials are good
@Shrinidhi
Yes,well said.
@sg
If only I knew the answer
@rahul
Thanks for dropping by.Thanks.
@Seema
That was a post or a comment?
Thanks chechi.
@Deepti
Yup, true.
Vanakkam
@Praveen
Wish,it changes
@maddy
Thanks for the inputs.
@Priya
Thanks for dropping by.
I beg to differ there,govt. employees do work;may be not all.
@Salil
Thanks maashe.:D
@Cyn
That is new to me.
@Senthil
Thanks for the visit.It *Was* foolproof,not any longer
@Rofl
Good one.
@Medical T
Thanks for dropping by.I know…
Right! Certified true that what is not true can also be made true
This is good satire, Nikhil. Finally, glad to be here and reading you again! Better later, sometimes!
As for as finding the government gazetted officers in a place is concerned, it should be quite straightforward. It starts with all state government officers(taluk office, post office, all registered medical practitioner( in govt service),electricity board, collector’s office, govt college lecturer/professor, headmaster/ PG asst of Govt high/ higher secondary school, NCC officer in school/college). In fact if one looks around even in a small city, you can find at 20-100 govt gazetted officers… how many of them will attest immediately on being approached is quite different story altogether.. one or two may say I don’t know you.. not all . It is best if all important documents always got attested at the time of coming out of school/college education..
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