ADJUDICATION & STAMPING OF THE POWER OF ATTORNEY 

INTRODUCTION

State of Karnataka and almost all other states in India require adjudication of documents executed outside India one such document is the power of attorney.

POWER OF ATTORNEY EXECUTED OUTSIDE INDIA

A person residing outside India needs to sell or buy or mortgage or rent or obtain possession of property located in Bangalore but if he is not able to visit India and personally do the required act or registration, in such case he may execute the power of attorney (GPA or SPA) whereby he can appoint his family member to act as his agent / attorney to do the registration or other act done for trasfer of property or other purposes. 

ADJUDICATION OF POWER OF ATTORNEY

A General Power of Attorney (GPA) or Special Power of Attorney (SPA) executed outside India which relates to property situated in Bangalore or to any thing to be done in Bangalore or received in Bangalore or Karnataka is chargeable to stamp duty under the provisions of the Karnataka Stamp Act, the power of attorney is required to be stamped/adjudicated within maximum 90 days after it is received in India before it can be used for registration or other purposes.

WHY ADJUDICATION IS REQUIRED

General Power of Attorney (GPA) or Special Power of Attorney (SPA) executed out side India (issued in foreign countries) have to be adjudicated to make it a legally accepted document for any property transaction in India.

WHAT IS ADJUDICATION OF STAMP DUTY 

Adjudication of stamp duty means to adjudicate how much time duty is payable for the registration of a particular document as per the provision of the Karnataka Stamp Act, so that the document is binding and enforceable.

WHERE IS THE ADJUDICATION DONE 

The General Power of Attorney (GPA) or Special Power of Attorney (SPA) is adjudicated in the respective district registrar office. 

DOCUMENTS REQUIRED FOR THE ADJUDICATION OF POA 

The following documents are required for the adjudication of POA:

1. Letter addressed to the district registrar office for the adjudication of POA

2. Orignal POA

3. Aadhar or passport or Government of India issued I.D document 

4. Stamp duty payment through K2 challan

HOW TO EXECUTE THE POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR PROPERTY IN BANGALORE /KARNATAKA /INDIA 

1. The foreign General Power of Attorney (GPA) or Special Power of Attorney (SPA) must be executed on a plain paper.  

2. The name of the person executing the power of attorney including his age, father name and address should be given.

3. The date and place of execution of the power of attorney must be mentioned.

4. The power of attorney should specifically provide the details of the attorney holder his name, age, father or husband name and address. The purpose and the power given must be specifically stated without ambiguity. 

5. The Executive must sign the power of attorney on each page. The signature should be attested by any authorised official of the Indian Embassy / Indian Consulate / Trade Commissioner of India in India / Notary Public in the foreign country.  These officials will have to affix their stamp and signature on the Original power of attorney. If the stamp of the Notary Public does not bear his name, then principal office address and notary registration number must be written by hand.

NO ADJUDICATION NEEDED IF POA IS SUFFICIENTLY STAMPED 

The Madras High Court, in Manoharan v. Velu, held that a power of attorney executed on proper stamp need not be produced before the Collector for the purpose of certification or adjudication that the full duty with which it is chargeable has been paid. It was held as under:

5. This Power document satisfies the definition ‘Power of Attorney’ as defined in sub-section (21) of Section 2 of the Act. It is not in dispute that this power document is engrossed on Indian non-judicial stamp paper of the value of Rs.5, which is the proper stamp duty, payable on that instrument. On these facts, the question that arises for consideration is whether the said power document should be necessarily produced before the Collector to certify by endorsement on such instrument that the full duty with which it is chargeable has been paid or not. To decide this question, the Court has to necessarily look into Sections 31 and 32 of the Act. Section 32 of the Act starts with the following words: “When an instrument brought to the Collector under Section 31, is … etc., etc.,. Therefore, if the provisions of Section 32 of the Act have to be applied, then the instrument should have been necessarily produced under the provisions of Section 31 of the Act before the Collector concerned. Section 31 of the Act enables a person bringing to the Collector any instrument, whether executed or not and whether previously stamped or not, to have his opinion as to the duty (if any) with which it is chargeable and thereupon the Collector on payment of a fee, shall determine the duty (if any), with which, in his judgment, the instrument is chargeable. Sub Section (2) of Section 31 of the Act deals with the power of the Collector to collect materials. In order to determine the stamp duty, if any, chargeable on the instrument produced before him. Therefore, it is clear that only in a case where the opinion of the Collector is sought for regarding the payment of the proper stamp duty, the Collector gets the power to proceed in accordance with Section 31 of the Act. Once the Collector gets the jurisdiction under Section 31 of the Act in the manner I have stated above, then only Section 32 of the Act gets attracted.

Manoharan vs Velu And Another; 1998 (2) CTC 72, (1998) IIIMLJ 27

We provide service for the adjudication, stamping and registration of power of attorney & other document in Bangalore, for any assistance in the process you may contact us