Sem II

Drafting, Pleading and

Conveyancing
Delivered by
Adv. Bhagyashree Dalvi
Govt Law College, Mumbai
 Vakalatnama
• A person / party filing a case, May also represent their own case personally
in any court.
• However, due to lack of knowledge of Law and Technical Procedures,
Lawyers are engaged to report the interest of parties.
• " Vakalatnama ", is a document, by which the party filing the case authorizes
the Advocate to represent on their behalf.
• In General Terms, a Vakalatnama may contain the falling terms :
• The client will not hold the Advocate responsible for any decision.
• The client shall bear all the costs and /expenses incurred during the
proceedings.
• The advocate shall have right to retain the documents, unless complete fees
are paid.
• The client is free to disengage the Advocate at any stage of the
Proceedings.
• The Advocate shall have all the right to take decisions on his own in
the court of Law, during the hearing, to the best interest of client.
• Vakalatnama is affixed on the last page of plaint / suit and is kept
along with court records.
• No fees are required to be paid on it. However, nowadays, Delhi High
court Rules require, a 10 Rupees. "Advocate Welfare Stamp" to be
affixed on the Vakalatnama .
• Plaint should also have the requisite court fees attached to it. Court
fees are some nominal percentage of the value of the claim or value of
the suit. The requisite amount of Court and stamp fees is different for
every suit, and is mentioned in the "Court Fees Stamp Act."
• Court Fees Different amount of court fees is paid for different
type of documents. Some of them are as follows ;
• In case of plaint / written statement == 10 RS. == if the value of
the suit exceed Rs.5,000/- upto 10,000/-
• Plaint , in a suit for possession == Fee of one half of the amount
above.
• On a copy of a Decree or order == (50 paisa) == if the amount
or value of Having the force of a decree the subject matter of
the suit wherein such decree or order is made is fifty or less
than fifty rupees.
 VAKLATNAMA
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ____________AT NEW DELHI
SUIT/APPEAL/COMPLAINT/PETITION/W.P. NO._____ OF
20__
• In the Matter of:
_________________________Plaintiff /Appellant /Petitioner/
Complainant
• VERSUS
• ________________________Defendant/Respondent/ Accused

KNOW ALL to whom these present shall come that I/We

__________________________the above named
__________________do hereby
appoint:______________________________
(herein after called the advocate/s) to be my/our Advocate in
the above noted case authorise him:-
• 1. To act, appear and plead in the above-noted case in this Court or in any other Court in
which the same may be tried or heard and also in the appellate Court including High
Court subject to payment of fees separately for each Court by me/us.
• 2. To sign, file, verify and present pleadings, appeals, cross-objections or petitions for
executions review revision, withdrawal, compromise or other petitions or affidavits or
other documents as may be deemed necessary or proper for the prosecution of the said
case in all its stages subject to payment of fees for each stage.
• 3. To file and take back documents, to admit and/or deny the documents of opposite
party.
• 4. To withdraw or compromise the said case or submit to arbitration any differences or
disputes that may arise touching or in any manner relating to the said case.
• 5. To take execution proceedings.
• 6. To deposit, draw and receive monthly cheques, cash and grant receipts thereof and to
do all other acts and things which may be necessary to be done for the progress and in
the course of the prosecution of the said case.
• 7. To appoint and instruct any other Legal Practitioner authorising him to exercise the
power and authority hereby conferred upon the Advocate whenever he may think fit to do
so and to sign the power of attorney on our behalf.
• 8. And I/We the undersigned do hereby agree to rectify and confirm all acts done by the
Advocate or his substitute in the matter as my/our own acts, as if done by me/us to all
intents and proposes.
• 9. And I/We undertake that I/We or my/our duly authorised agent would appear in Court on
all hearings and will inform the Advocate for appearance when the case is called.
• 10. And I/We the undersigned do hereby agree not to hold the advocate or his substitute
responsible for the result of the said case.
• 11. The adjournment costs whenever ordered by the Court shall be of the Advocate which
he shall receive and retain for himself.
• 12. And I/We the undersigned to hereby agree that in the event of the whole or part of the
fee agreed by me/us to be paid to the advocate remaining unpaid he shall be entitled to
withdraw from the prosecution of the said case until the same is paid up. The fee settled is
only for the above case and above Court. I//we hereby agree that once fee is paid, I/We will
not be entitled for the refund of the same in any case whatsoever and if the case prolongs
for more than 3 years the original fee shall be paid again by me/us.
• IN WITNESS WHEREOF I/We do hereunto set my/our hand to these presents the
contents of which have been understood by me/us on this _______day of
_____200__
Accepted, and identified the client.

_________ ADVOCATE _________ ADVOCATE _________ CLIENT

Address:_____________
Enrollment No:________
Mobile No: ___________ E-Mail : ______________
• POINTS TO BE NOTED BEFORE SIGNING VAKALATNAMA
• The Following points are important while signing a Vakalatnama.
• 1. This Valakalatnama is useful only for Trial Courts, Consumer
Forums, Tribunals and High Court. For Supreme Court there is
another format of Vakalatnama. Only Advocate on Record can file
Vakalatnama in Supreme Court in his name.
• 2. The Vakalatnama should be in the name of an Advocate
• 3. To change your Advocate, No Objection Certificate is not required
in many courts, but you have to confirm it from particular court to
avoid disputes or problems if any.
 The Right to Information

• Historical Background
• The right to information is a fundamental right under Article 19 (1) of
the Indian Constitution.
• In 1976, in the Raj Narain vs the State of Uttar Pradesh case, the
Supreme Court ruled that Right to information will be treated as a
fundamental right under article 19.
• The Supreme Court held that in Indian democracy, people are the
masters and they have the right to know about the working of the
government.
• Thus the government enacted the Right to Information act in 2005
which provides machinery for exercising this fundamental right.
 Right To Information: A Global View
• Over 50 countries now have freedom of information laws and another 15-20 are
actively considering adopting one.
• These nations are joined by a growing number of inter-Governmental bodies –
including the World Bank, European Union and UNDP – that have established FOI
policies.
• It provides that all citizens enjoy rights of freedom of opinion and expression,
including the right to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas, a guarantee now
generally considered to include an obligation of openness on the part of Government.

The UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 had a catalytic effect on
movements for open government, worldwide.
• Many democratic countries have taken legislative action to give its citizens a right of
access to information in the possession of the government and its agencies.
• USA passed the Freedom of Information Act, 1966, which was extensively amended in
1974, and again 1976, 1983.
• Canada enacted Access to Information Act in 1982. Australia and New Zealand also
passed similar legislation in 1982 and 1983, respectively.
• In keeping with the spirit of the Universal Declaration of 1948 and its Article 19, the
Preamble of the Constitution of India, adopted in 1950, has in its Article 19(1)(a)
provides exactly similar guarantees to the citizens, the right to freedom of speech
and expression‘ as one of the fundamental rights listed in Part III of the
Constitution.
• More than 50 countries now have guaranteed their citizens the right to know.
However, freedom of information legislation is not a new concept. It has been into
existence since 18th century as evident in the case of Sweden.
• The history of RTI is a struggle between the power of the state and that of the civil
society.
• The degree of success has invariably been determined by their relative strengths,
although external factors may have sometimes played a role.
• In many regions enactment of RTI had resulted from the fall of authoritarian regime
 The Right to Information Act of 2005

• The act is one of the most important acts which empowers ordinary citizens to
question the government and its working. This has been widely used by citizens
and media to uncover corruption, progress in government work, expenses related
information, etc.
• All constitutional authorities, agencies, owned and controlled, also those
organizations which are substantially financed by the government comes under the
purview of the act.
• The act also mandates public authorities of union government or state
government, to provide timely response to the citizens’ request for information.
• The act also imposes penalties if the authorities delay in responding to the citizen
in the stipulated time.
• Definition of Public Authority [Preliminary]
• any authority or body or institution of self-government established or
constituted —
• (a) by or under the Constitution;
• (b) by any other law made by Parliament;
• (c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
• (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate
Government; and includes any— •
• (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed;
• (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed, directly or
indirectly by funds by the appropriate Government.
• What type of information can be requested
through RTI?
• The citizens can seek any information from the
government authorities that the government can
disclose to the parliament.
• Some information that can affect the sovereignty and
the integrity of India is exempted from the purview of
RTI.
• Information relating to internal security, relations with
foreign countries, intellectual property rights (IPR),
cabinet discussions are exempted from RTI.
• Objectives of the RTI Act
1.Empower citizens to question the government.
2.The act promotes transparency and accountability in
the working of the government.
3.The act also helps in containing corruption in the
government and work for the people in a better way.
4.The act envisages building better-informed citizens who
would keep necessary vigil about the functioning of the
government machinery.
Important provisions under the Right to Information Act, 2005

• Section 2(h): Public authorities mean all authorities and bodies under the union government,
state government or local bodies. The civil societies that are substantially funded, directly or
indirectly, by the public funds also fall within the ambit of RTI.
• Section 4 1(b): Government has to maintain and proactively disclose information.
• Section 6: Prescribes a simple procedure for securing information.
• Section 7: Prescribes a time frame for providing information(s) by PIOs.
• Section 8: Only minimum information exempted from disclosure.
• Section 8 (1) mentions exemptions against furnishing information under the RTI Act.
• Section 8 (2) provides for disclosure of information exempted under the Official Secrets Act,
1923 if the larger public interest is served.
• Section 19: Two-tier mechanism for appeal.
• Section 20: Provides penalties in case of failure to provide information on time, incorrect,
incomplete or misleading or distorted information.
 Significance of the RTI Act

• The RTI Act, 2005 empowers the citizen to question the secrecy and
abuse of power practised in governance.
• It is through the information commissions at the central and state levels
that access to such information is provided.
• RTI information can be regarded as a public good, for it is relevant to the
interests of citizens and is a crucial pillar for the functioning of a
transparent and vibrant democracy.
• The information obtained not only helps in making government
accountable but also useful for other purposes which would serve the
overall interests of the society.
• Every year, around six million applications are filed under the RTI Act,
making it the most extensively used sunshine legislation globally.
• These applications seek information on a range of issues, from holding the
government accountable for the delivery of basic rights and entitlements to
questioning the highest offices of the country.
• Using the RTI Act, people have sought information that governments would not
like to reveal as it may expose corruption, human rights violations, and
wrongdoings by the state.
• The access to information about policies, decisions and actions of the government
that affect the lives of citizens is an instrument to ensure accountability.
• The Supreme Court has, in several judgments, held that the RTI is a fundamental
right flowing from Articles 19 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee to
citizens the freedom of speech and expression and the right to life, respectively.
 Recent Amendments

• The RTI amendment Bill 2013 removes political parties from the ambit of the
definition of public authorities and hence from the purview of the RTI Act.
• The draft provision 2017 which provides for closure of case in case of death of
applicant can lead to more attacks on the lives of whistleblowers.
• The proposed RTI Amendment Act 2018 is aimed at giving the Centre the power
to fix the tenures and salaries of state and central information commissioners,
which are statutorily protected under the RTI Act. The move will dilute the
autonomy and independence of CIC.
• The Act proposes to replace the fixed 5-year tenure with as much prescribed by
the government.
 Criticism of RTI Act

• One of the major set-back to the act is that poor record-keeping within
the bureaucracy results in missing files.
• There is a lack of staffing to run the information commissions.
• The supplementary laws like the Whistle Blower’s Act are diluted, this
reduces the effect of RTI law.
• Since the government does not proactively publish information in the
public domain as envisaged in the act and this leads to an increase in
the number of RTI applications.
• There have been reports of frivolous RTI applications and also the
information obtained have been used to blackmail the government
authorities.
 RTI Act – Associated Challenges

• Different types of information are sought which has no public interest

and sometimes can be used to misuse the law and harass the public
authorities. For example-
• Asking for desperate and voluminous information.
• To attain publicity by filing RTI
• RTI filed as a vindictive tool to harass or pressurize the public authority
• Because of illiteracy and unawareness among the majority of the
population in the country, the RTI cannot be exercised.
• Though RTI’s aim is not to create a grievance redressal mechanism,
the notices from Information Commissions often spur the public
authorities to redress grievances.
 Right To Information Act vs Legislations for Non Disclosure of Information

• Some provisions of the Indian Evidence Act (Sections 123, 124, and 162) provide to
hold the disclosure of documents.
• Under these provisions, head of department may refuse to provide information on affairs of state
and only swearing that it is a state secret will entitle not to disclose the information.
• In a similar manner no public officer shall be compelled to disclose communications made to
him in official confidence.
• The Atomic Energy Act, 1912 provides that it shall be an offence to disclose
information restricted by the Central Government.
• The Central Civil Services Act provides a government servant not to communicate or
part with any official documents except in accordance with a general or special order
of government.
• The Official Secrets Act, 1923 provides that any government official can mark a
document as confidential so as to prevent its publication
 • FORM__A
FORM OF APPLICATION SEEKING INFORMATION
(See rule)
I.D. No___
(For official use)
• To
The P.I.O.,
Right to Information Act
• 1. Name of the applicant :______________________________
• 2. Address : ______________________________
• 3. Particular of information :______________________________
• (a) Concerned department : ______________________________
• (i) Particulars of information required : ____________________________
• (ii) Period for which information asked for : ________________________
• (iii) Other details :______________________________
• 4. I state that the information sought does not fall within the
restrictions contained in section 6 of the Act and to the best of
my knowledge it pertains to your office.
• 5. A fees of Rs _______ has been deposited in the office of the
Competent Authority vide No ______dated _______
• Place:______________
• Signature of applicant
• E__mail address, if any:__________
• Dated:______________ Tel. No. (Office)_______ (Residence) _________
Affidavit for Change of Name
 Affidavit for Change of Name

“What is in a name? That which we call a Rose by any other name

would smell as sweet.”
- Wrote William Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet.
• Little did he know how people are fascinated by different names.
• People these days, especially Indians, change their names for various
reasons ranging from the patriarchal reason of including the husband’s
name after marriage to fantasizing and fanciful reasons like
numerology and astrology or disliking the exiting name or correction
of spelling of Name.
• Hence, it is important to know the procedure to change one’s name
legally in India.
• The Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Home
Affairs by way of an Office Memorandum (OM) cited as O. M. No.
190016 / 1 / 87 – Estt. Dated 12/03/1987 laid down a basic
procedure which has to be followed by Government Employees. It
also provided a proforma Affidavit as an Annexure. This is taken as
a guideline and is followed for everyone.
• The simple three steps to be followed are as follows –
• 1. Affidavit
• 2. News Paper Publication.
• 3. Gazette Notification.
• After this, a person shall be known by his new name. Once the new
name kicks in, it is also important to change the personal details in
all other official records.
 Affidavit

• The first step is to submit an Affidavit to a First Class Magistrate/Notary

Public/Oath Commissioner in the District court.
• Affidavit shall include affirmation and declaration in the case of persons by
law allowed to affirm or declare instead of swearing.
• It is a written statement in the name of a person, called the deponent by
whom it is voluntarily signed and sworn to or affirmed.
• The Affidavit should be drawn on a stamp paper, the value of which
depends on the state the individual resides (Stamp Duty is in the Concurrent
List – Entry 44).
• Every state has different rules for the usage of non-judicial stamp papers for
making an affidavit.( E.g. ₹100/-, for Maharashtra.) In most of the states,
you will need a stamp paper of a minimal value (Say, ₹10 or ₹20).
The details you must mention in the Affidavit are:
• 1. Your Previous Name,
• 2. Current Name,
• 3. Your Complete Address,
• 4. Reason for Change of Name.
• If a woman changes her name post-marriage, her affidavit shall
include the following –
1.Current Name with Husband’s Name and Current Postal Address,
2.Previous Name with Father’s Name and Father’s Postal Address,
3.Date of Marriage.
• Once the affidavit is printed on a plain stamp paper, it needs to be signed by two
witnesses. The legal procedure is to get it signed by two persons of gazette officer
rank. Ensure that you have their signature, along with their stamp (rubber
stamp).It is suggested to use the legal expertise of an advocate for drafting the
affidavit properly.
• A proof of Indian citizenship would be required to be attested along with the
affidavit. You will also need two passport sized attested photographs with the
notary and pasted separately on an A4 paper.
• Get a few photo copies of the affidavit and the annexed papers, since it is a crucial
document and comes in handy for any future legal formalities. If possible, get an
electronic copy too and keep it safely.
• For overseas Indians, who would like to change their name, one needs to submit a
deed stating the change of name, duly signed by the Indian High Commission
office or the Indian Embassy
 Paper Publication

• After an affidavit has been sworn before the relevant authority, the name change
has to be advertised / published in two newspapers – one vernacular paper of the
state in which the person resides and another in English.
• A front page advertisement is not necessary. Normally newspapers have separate
columns for these kinds of notifications and will guide you through the process.
• The following is the format in which the newspaper publication would normally
be –
• I, XYZ, residing at__________ , have changed my name to ABC, and will be
known as ABC from here on in. I have submitted an affidavit to this effect, which
was signed by _______ on _______.
• After it has been published collect as many hard copies as possible. Also scan and
mail yourself for future reference.
 Gazette Notification

• The last step is to get your Change of Name published in the Gazette of India. For
This Procedure, you will need to send a few documents in an Envelope to the
following address:
• Controller of Publication,
• Department of Publication,
• Civil Lines, Delhi-54
• The name change gazette notification is mandatory for those in employment with
the government and optional for others. However, it is substantial proof of your
name change. Hence, it is urged to follow this procedure.
• Documents required to be submitted for Gazette Notification –
• 1. Deed changing name form.
• 2. Specimen Name Change details printed in a separate paper, signed by the
applicant and two witnesses. (Similar specimen as that of the newspaper
advertisement).
• 3. Original copies of advertisements published, with the dates.
• 4. Attested copy of the name changing affidavit.
• 5. Two attested photographs.
• 6. ID proof and address proof.
• Once the gazette notification has been done, the name has been changed officially.
• After you have successfully changed your name, you will have to update you
official documents (e.g.-Passport, PAN Card, Driving License, and Ration Card).
• Copies of the Affidavit, Newspaper publication and the Gazette notification are
enough to get these documents changed.
Adjournment Application in Criminal Matters
Thankyou