Introduction:
An affidavit is a willing, written, sworn statement or declaration of fact made by a deponent under an oath or affirmation before an authorized individual. ‘Affidavit’ has its roots from a Latin word which means to ‘pledge one’s faith.’ Or he/she has declared upon an oath. An affidavit is to be signed and verified by a notary authority and is then considered as an oath that may serve as evidence to its veracity. An affidavit is one’s testimony on paper which can be admissible in the court of law. Everything on the affidavit has to be absolute truth. Failure to do so, or any kind of misleading information would lead to the offense of perjury and a resultant penalty. On the contrary, if one forgets to include something, he/she would not be penalized. And, if something on the affidavit cannot be verified or can be backed by any evidence, then in such a case the affiant has to declare it as his/her ‘opinion’.
Essentials of an Affidavit
As mentioned earlier, an affidavit is a written court testimony, it can be in either first or third person. The affidavit should have all the information which is nothing but the truth. Failure to do so would lead to penalty of perjury.
Each testimony containing any announcement of facts will be separated into sections, and each passage will be numbered sequentially, and, as so might be, will be restricted to an unmistakable bit of the subject.
Every individual, other than an offended party or respondent in a suit in which the application is made, making an affidavit, will be portrayed in such way as will serve to recognize him clearly: that is to state, by the announcement of his complete name, the name of his father, his profession or trade, and the place of his residence.
When the declarant in any sworn statement addresses any facts inside his knowledge, he should do so legitimately and positively, utilizing the words, ‘I affirm’. When the specific reality isn’t inside the declarant’s knowledge, however, is expressed from data acquired from others, the declarant must utilize the articulation ‘I am informed’
Types of Affidavit
There are two types of affidavit. They are: judicial affidavits used in court cases; and non-judicial affidavits used “for all other purposes”. The judicial affidavits are submitted for various purposes including that of evidence or as a support of an application while non-judicial affidavits are mainly for administrative or commercial purposes.
Uses of an Affidavit
The affidavit is prima facie treated as ‘evidence’ as its meaning is enshrined under Section # of the Evidence Act. Since it is a court testimony it can be used to alter essential identity proofs such as PAN card, credit card, birth certificate, and even one’s name. While the cost of making one is quite minimal. All one requires is a stamp paper of about rupees ten along with attestation fees charged by an oath commissioner or a notary public of rupees ten and finally locate a ‘deed writer’ to type it out. The security features on an affidavit depends on the genuineness of stamp paper and self-attestation of documents. Self-attestation of an affidavit can be done by certifying at the foot of the same the fact of making such affidavit by entering date and one’s signature for verification of identification.
Laws and Cases in India
The law on affidavits in India is governed by Section 139, Order XIX of the Code of Civil Procedure, and Order XI of the Supreme Court Rules. The Acts governing affidavits are the Oaths Act, 1969, and Notaries Act, 1952.
The attestation and verification of affidavits is of utmost importance. One of the Supreme Court case regarding the same is the State of Bombay v. Purushottam Jog Naik, AIR 1952 SC 317. The court observed that the verification of affidavits was defective and hence consequently lead to the rejection of affidavit. It stated that verification should invariably be modeled on the lines of Order 19, Rule 3, of the Civil Procedure Code.
On the similar lines, the court observed in the case of Amar Singh vs Union Of India & Ors on 11 May 2011(SC), that the Registry should scrutinize the affidavits if they are not consistent with the above-mentioned law as well as Order XI Rules 5 and 13 of the Supreme Court Rules.
In one of the earlier recorded case in 1910, the case of Padmavati Dasi v. Rasik Lal Dhar, the then Calcutta High Court laid down that every affidavit should clearly express how much is a statement of the affiant’s knowledge and how much is a statement of his belief, and the grounds of belief must be stated with sufficient particularity to enable the Court to judge whether it will be correct to rely on such belief.
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