NASHIK: The Central government has prepared a rough draft to amend the Notaries Act, 1952. However, as alleged by the notary lawyers, this amendment bill is unfair to them. Against this decision, the Nashik District Notary Advocates Association held a stop-work agitation yesterday (Dec 14) to protest against the government’s amendment decision, informed District Notary Association President Kailas Patil.
The agitation received an overwhelming response from all the notaries of the district. The Central Government came up with a draft Notary (Amendment) Bil, 2021, that will limit the tenure of notaries to 15 years. An initial term of five years followed by two renewed terms of five years each. Earlier, no such cap was issued on notaries.
The law and justice ministry stated that it capped the tenure to encourage young lawyers to enter this field. The proposed amendment also empowers state and central government to cancel licenses in case of misconduct. Patil stated that lawyers get the tag of notaries only after 40 – 45 years of age. The amendment bill restricts the tenure to 15 years, i.e., a notary advocate can renew its license only till 55 – 60 yrs of age.
The association is against the amendment bill, and a statement has been issued to Additional Collector Dattaprasad Nade in this regard. During yesterday’s strike, the notaries did not notarise any document other than the educational ones for not causing any educational harm to students. Notary advocates Shankar Matale, Ravindra Tajne, Sharad Gaidhani, Abhijeet Bagde, Sachin Dharrao, Uday Shinde, Latish Upasani, Ramesh Kushare, Milind Kurkute, and Dinesh Dhoke were present at the occasion.
