QUEEN v. WERASINHE.

D. C., Galle, 12,746.

Under sub-section 14 of section 26 of the Ordinance No. 2 of 1877, it is sufficient if a notary ascertains that a prior deed has been registered and inserts the registration number thereof in his deed.

Where he has personal knowledge of the registration of a prior deed, it is no part of his duty to search the register so as to acquaint himself with the actual state of the grantor's title.

Queen v. Abrew, 3 N.L. R. 206, distinguished.

THE Registrar of Lands, Galle, charged the accused, a notary public, under sub-section 14 of section 26 of Ordinance No. 2 of 1877, with attesting a certain deed affecting an interest in land without endeavouring, before attestation, to ascertain whether any prior deed affecting any interest in such land had been registered.

The deed in question was a mortgage bond granted by one Gunawardane to Silva. It was proved that if the notary had inquired at the Registrar's Office he would have found that the mortgagor had divested himself of his title