JUDGMENT :

1. The petitioners are Advocates with more than ten years of practice. The petitioners are aggrieved by the rejection of their memorial seeking appointment as Notary Public as also the application seeking review of that order.

2. The short facts are as under;

The petitioners, after practicing for more than ten years at their respective centres, submitted applications/memorials seeking appointment as Notary Public. After considerable delay, the Competent Authority recommended their names and an interview was conducted by the duly constituted Interview Board. While the petitioners were awaiting appointment as Notary Public, they were served with communications informing that their applications had been decided under Rule 8(1)(c) of the Notaries Rules, 1956 ('Rules' for short). As Rule 8(1)(c) provides for rejection of the application, the petitioners preferred review petitions under Rule 8(3). Except in the case of the petitioner in W.P.(C) No. 23237 of 2022, the review petitions of all others were rejected by a common order dated 01.02.2022, with an omnibus statement that the Government, after exercising its discretion, decided to reject the review.

3. Heard Advs. B. Moha