Notaries Cannot Issue Marriage Certificates or Notarise Marriage Declarations — What the Orissa High Court Held in Partha Sarathi Das v. State of Odisha (2023)

1.Background of the Case

Marriages solemnised informally, and then "documented" through a notary, have quietly become common in parts of Odisha and elsewhere — especially where couples want quick proof of marriage without going through a temple, registrar, or the formal registration process. Notaries, sometimes out of ignorance of their own statutory limits, have obliged by attesting documents styled as "marriage declarations" or even issuing paper described as a "marriage certificate."

Partha Sarathi Das v. State of Odisha reached the Orissa High Court through exactly this fact pattern, and gave the Court an opportunity to restate — firmly and for the record — that this practice has no legal foundation at all.

2.Case Snapshot

3.What Actually Happened Before the Court

The petitioner filed a writ petition alleging that a woman he described as his legally wedded wife was being illegally confined by her parents against her will, and sought a direction for her production. To establish the marital relationship, the petitioner produced a "marriage certificate" that had been executed and issued by a Notary Public practising at Simulia, in the district of Balasore.

On examining this document, the Court was troubled by the underlying practice rather than merely the individual dispute. It directed the police to formally intimate the notary in writing to appear in person and explain, on affidavit, the basis on which he had allowed execution of a marriage declaration before him, and under what authority he had attested it.

4.The Court's Holding, In Its Own Words

"Time and again the Courts across the country have echoed it in identical voice that Notaries are neither authorized to issue marriage certificates nor they are legally entitled to notarize any signed declaration of marriage, which is apparently beyond the scope of their functions prescribed under Section 8 of the Notaries Act, 1952." Orissa High Court, Partha Sarathi Das v. State of Odisha, WP(CRL) No. 70 of 2023

"Due to such extra-legal and dishonest arrangements by the Notaries, parties are made to believe that they are legally married when in fact their marriage does not have even the slightest of legal sanctity." Orissa High Court, Partha Sarathi Das v. State of Odisha

The Court went further and directed the concerned notary to personally appear and account for his conduct — signalling that this is not treated as a harmless clerical slip, but as a serious departure from statutory duty with real consequences for the parties involved.

5.Why a Notary Cannot Do This — Section 8, Notaries Act, 1952

A Notary Public in India is a creature of statute. Their functions are exhaustively listed in Section 8 of the Notaries Act, 1952, and include acts such as verifying, authenticating, certifying or attesting the execution of an instrument; witnessing signatures; administering oaths; taking affidavits; preparing protests of bills of exchange; and similar acts that other laws specifically permit a notary to perform.

Nowhere in Section 8, or anywhere else in the Notaries Act, is a notary empowered to solemnise, register, certify, or in any way legally validate a marriage. Marriage is a status governed exclusively by personal law (such as the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Muslim personal law, the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, or the Special Marriage Act, 1954) and by dedicated registration machinery created under those laws or under State Compulsory Registration of Marriage Rules. A notary attesting a "marriage declaration" is, at best, certifying that two people signed a piece of paper in front of him — that act carries no evidentiary or legal weight as proof of a valid marriage.

6.Precedents the Court Relied On

The convergence of these decisions is precisely what allowed the Bench in Partha Sarathi Das to describe the position as one "Courts across the country have echoed... in identical voice" — this is not an isolated or novel finding, but the restatement of a settled principle.

7.Directions Issued by the Court

8.Why This Matters for Couples

The judgment is a caution as much as it is a statement of law. Couples who obtain a notarised "marriage certificate" — often for convenience, speed, or to avoid family or social scrutiny — walk away genuinely believing they are legally married. In reality, they hold a piece of paper with no more legal effect than any other notarised private document. This becomes catastrophic precisely when it matters most: in matrimonial disputes, maintenance claims, inheritance, custody proceedings, or — as in this very case — in a habeas corpus petition where the existence of a valid marriage was central to the relief sought.

9.Risks of Relying on a Notarised "Marriage Certificate"

10.How a Marriage Is Actually Solemnised and Registered

There is no shortcut around personal law and registration statutes. The legally recognised routes are:

11.Myths vs Facts

12.Common Real-Life Scenarios

13.Checklist Before You Rely on Any Marriage Document

14.Practical Perspective for Advocates and Notaries

For advocates advising clients on matrimonial status, the starting point in any case involving a notarised "marriage certificate" should be to establish independently whether a marriage valid under the applicable personal law was in fact solemnised, and whether it has been registered. The notarised document itself should not be treated as primary proof of marriage in pleadings; at most, it may be led as corroborative evidence of an assertion, subject to the weight a court is willing to give it in light of Partha Sarathi Das and the precedents it follows.

For notaries, the judgment is a direct warning. Attesting or executing any document styled as a marriage certificate or marriage declaration falls outside the functions permitted under Section 8 of the Notaries Act, 1952, and can expose the notary to being summoned, required to explain the act on affidavit, and potentially to disciplinary consequences under the Notaries Act and Rules.

15.Frequently Asked Questions