Attested Transfer of Property Act, 1882, S. 3 Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act gives the definition of the word "attested" and is in these words :? "Attested", in relation to an instrument, means and shall be deemed to have meant attested by two or more witnesses each of whom has seen the executant sign or affix his mark to the instrument, or has seen some other person sign the instrument in the presence and by the direction of the executant, or has received from the executant a personal acknowledgement of his signature or mark, or of the signature of such other person, and each of whom has signed the instrument in the presence of the executant; but it shall not be necessary that more than one of such witnesses shall have been present at the same time and no particular form of attestation shall be necessary." It is to be noticed that the word 'attested", the thing to be defined, occurs as part of the definition itself. To attest is to bear witness to a fact. Briefly put, the essential conditions of a valid attestation under Section 3 are : (1) two or more witnesses have seen the executant sign the instrument or have received from him a personal acknowledgment of his signature; (2) with a view to attest or to bear witness to this fact each of them has signed the instrument in the presence of the executant. It is essential that the witness should have put his signature animo attestandi, that is, for the purpose of attesting that he has seen the executant sign or has received from him a personal acknowledgement of his signature. If a person puts his signature on the document for some other purpose, e.g., to certify that he is a scribe or an identifier or a registering officer, he is not an attesting witness. "In every case the Court must be satisfied that the names were written animo attestandi", see Jarman on Wills, 8th Ed. p. 137. Evidence is admissible to show whether the witness had the intention to attest. "The attesting witnesses must subscribe with the intention that the subscription made should be complete attestation of the will, and evidence is admissible to show whether such was the intention or not," see Theobald on Wills, 12th Ed. p. 129. In Girja Datt v. Gangotri, AIR 1955 SC 346 (351) the Court held that the two persons who had identified the testator at the time of the registration of the will and had appended their signatures at the foot of the endorsement by the Sub-Registrar, were not attesting witnesses as their signatures were not put "animo attestandi". In Abinash Chandra v. Dasrath Malo, ILR 56 Cal 598 : (AIR 1929 Cal 123) it was held that a person who had put his name under the word "scribe" was not an attesting witness as he had put his signature only for the purpose of authenticating that he was a "scribe". In Shiam Sunder Singh v. Jagannath Singh, 54 Mad LJ 43 : (AIR 1927 PC 248) the Privy Council held that the legatees who had put their signatures on the will in token of their consent to its execution were not attesting witnesses and were not disqualified from taking as legatees. (Abdul Jabbar v. Venkata Sastri, AIR 1969 SC 1147 (1151)