Attestation

Introduction:

Attestation can be simply defined as a process of authenticating a document or confirming its originality. If you are the holder of an authentic document to prove its authenticity you would need to attest it. Now, attestation is done in many ways from different authorities to even self-attesting documents, all of the modes however signify the same thing, that is the documents being attested are of authentic nature. These documents may be a passport, your birth certificate, a visa, etc.

Need for Attestation

Attestation is needed in various spheres of the world and is most commonly used in verifying the authenticity of documents. In simple words, if you claim to be the holder of any document to prove it as such in the eyes of the law, you would need to get it attested by an organization/individual who is a recognized authority in such matters. The attestation of documents is a legal requirement for many purposes namely applying for passport or application for a visa even entering into a contract at times requires attestation.

Purpose of Attestation

Attestation is done with the purpose of authorizing a document. In the Indian Law attestation of the document is required for various purposes. Under section 90 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, the attestation of a document is related to the person who is in the custody of any important document. The court assumes that, if the document or any part of it is signed by the person in possession of it, is properly attested or executed by the person because of his signature^[1].

However, this assumption is not to be done in the case of any detention or in cases where the written statement is relied upon by the plaintiff as per section 90A(2) of the Indian Evidence Act,1872^[2]. The other purpose of attestation of the document is to know whether the person who authorized over the document is of sound mind and had the knowledge about the agreement(s) he is entering into, under section 70 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872, an attested document is the sufficient proof^[3].

Different Types of Attestation

There are different types of attestation of documents done for different purposes. Some of them are listed below:

• Notary Attestation: This type of attestation of a document is the most basic form of attestation for any kind of legal procedure and it is also the foremost step towards attestation of a document. It is basically done through signature which is obtained from a local notary.

• Apostille Attestation: Apostille stamp is a computer generated sticker stamp of square shape, fixed on the certificate by the MEA, Government of India. This process is performed by the Ministry of External Affairs and applies to all countries who are members of the Hague Convention. The stamp has a different ID number, by which any associate nation of The Hague convention can verify its legitimacy online. It can be done for personal documents like marriage, birth and death certificates and also educational documents like degree, diploma, etc

• Home Department Attestation: These types of attestation are majorly carried out while attesting personal documents which are to be done only by authorized personals which include death certificates, birth certificates, marriage certificates, etc.

• Human Right Department Attestation: This type of attestation is done to verify the authentication of educational certificates and documents. This is done in cases where an employer applies for a job or where a student goes for further education in order to find out his academic history.

• Sub-divisional Magistrate Attestation: It performs independently unlike the HRD attestation and its function is the same as HRD attestation. It is an alternative to HRD attestation, but in some cases, it is mandatory to get attested by HRD.

• Chamber of Commerce Attestation: This is an organization formed by the local businessmen for the attestation of the commercial document. Through attestation of the document, it proves that the business is set up under legal procedure.

• MEA Attestation: The Ministry of External Affairs attestation deals with providing authentication on foreign-related documents. It is done by applying MEA stamps or stickers on the document.

• Embassy Attestation: This type of attestation is done by respective foreign countries to check the validity of his documents. For instance, if an Indian is traveling to China, then at his arrival the documents of his identification will be checked by the Chinese embassy.

How to get Documents Attested

When traveling to another country for educational or commercial purposes, the person has to prove the authenticity of his documents to the visiting country. For instance, if a person is visiting the UK for educational purposes he has to provide his educational records, his passport, his visa, and all of these documents need to be attested by the necessary authorities for grant of permission to travel to the UK.

The actual attestation of the documents is done by an authorized person or department who has the official seal and signature. Through attesting the certificates, the authority who issued the certificates gets confirmed about their validity and if any discrepancies are present, the person can easily get them verified. The document attestation for different purposes is done by the different authorized departments. They are:

• For personal documents, the home department/general administration Department is authorized for attesting documents.
• For educational certificates, the documents need to be authorized by the state /union territory who are authorized for attesting educational documents. Then the documents which are authorized by the state government/ union territory are attested by the Ministry of external affairs.
• For commercial purposes, the documents before being sent to the Ministry of External Affairs need to be attested by the Chambers of Commerce Ministry.

Which documents can be attested?

Any authentic document can be attested, usually from the relevant Embassy within the country of issue. Some of the most common documents that are attested include:

• Degree Certificate
• Birth Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• Commercial Document (i.e. Company Registration, Memorandum & Articles of Association, Board Resolution)
• Police Clearance Report
• Medical Report
• Power of Attorney

Conclusion

Attestation is therefore an important process that allows a person holding an authentic document to prove its genuineness, in cases of fraud or misrepresentation it is these tools that help in fact-finding. In essence, the attestation of documents is done so that another person cannot misuse someone’s documents for their personal benefit. It is therefore important to prove the authentication of the documents.

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References:

^[1] Section 90, Indian Evidence Act 1872

^[2] Section 90(A)(2), Indian Evidence Act 1872

^[3] Section 70, Indian Evidence Act 1872