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2026 Supreme(Online)(Ker) 11912
IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
BECHU KURIAN THOMAS, J
SREEJAYA SASIDHARAN – Appellant
Versus
UNION OF INDIA – Respondent
WP(C) NO. 47528 OF 2025
For the Appellants/Petitioners: SRI.R.SREEHARI, SHRI.HAMZA A.V.
For the Respondents: O.M.SHALINA, DEPUTY SOLICITOR GENERAL OF INDIA
The court directed prompt consideration of an application for renewal of a Notary's certificate, emphasizing statutory compliance and expediency.
Headnote:The petitioner, an advocate appointed as a Notary under the Notaries Act, 1952, seeks renewal of her certificate of practice that expired in March 2025. Despite fulfilling the requirements, the renewal was not granted. The court mandated a decision within three months. Noteworthy is the court's assertion on the urgency of the renewal process under the applicable Notaries Rules, 1956.
| Table of Content |
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| 1. requirements for notary certification renewal. (Para 1 , 2 , 3) |
| 2. court's directive for timely decision on applications. (Para 4) |
JUDGMENT
Petitioner is an Advocate enrolled with the Bar Council of Kerala with Enrollment No.K/274/2001. She was appointed as a Notary on 16.03.2020 under the Notaries Act, 1952 and Ext.P1 is her certificate of practice as a Notary. Since the said certificate was due to expire on 15.03.2025, petitioner applied for its renewal, as per Rule 8B of the Notaries Rules,1956. According to the petitioner, till date, no orders have been passed. Ext.P2 is the postal receipt indicating the submission of application for renewal pursuant to which the petitioner was served with Ext.P3 notice indicating the requirement of certain additional documents for considering the application for renewal. Petitioner contends that all documents required as per Ext.P3 was submitted, despite which no orders have been passed. Subsequently, since it was intimated by Ext.P6 that there was a delay in submitting the application, the reasons for delay was also communicated to the Appointing Authority as per Ext.P7. The limited relief now sought for by the petitioner is for a direction to consider her application for renewal of the Notary certificate of practice.
2. I have heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Deputy Solicitor General of India.
3. Petitioner is an Advocate since 2001, who had obtained a certificate of practice as a Notary. The said certificate was about to expire on 15.03.2025 and hence she applied for its renewal on 23.09.2024. Obviously, the said date of application for renewal was before the expiry of the period of licence.
4. Having regard to the above circumstances, this Court is of the view that the application submitted by the petitioner for renewal of certificate of practice as a Notary ought to be considered and appropriate orders passed thereon.
Hence, there will be a direction to the competent amongst respondents 3 and 4 to consider and pass appropriate orders on the application for renewal of Notary's licence submitted by the petitioner with Registration No.21805, as expeditiously as possible, at any rate, within a period of three months from the date of receipt of a copy of this judgment.
The writ petition is disposed of as above.
Sd/-
