POWERS-OF-ATTORNEY ACT, 1882
POWERS-OF-ATTORNEY
ACT, 1882
[Act
No. 7 of Year 1882, dated 24th. February, 1882]
An
Act to amend the law relating to Powers-of-Attorney
For
the purpose of amending the law relating to Powers-of-Attorney; it is
hereby enacted as follows: -
1.
Short title
This Act may be
called the Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882.
Local
extent-It applies to the whole of India 1[except the State of Jammu
and Kashmir];
Commencement-and
it shall come into force on the first day of May, 1882.
2[1A.
Definition
In this Act,
"Power-of-Attorney" includes any instruments empowering a
specified person to act for and in the name of the person executing
it.]
2.
Execution under power-of-attorney
The
donee of a power-of-attorney may, if he thinks fit, execute or do any
3[* * *] instrument or thing in and with his own name and signature,
and his own seal, where sealing is required, by the authority of the
donor of the power; and every 3[ * * * ] instrument and thing so
executed and done, shall be as effectual in law as if it had been
executed or done by the donee of the power in the name, and with the
signature and seal, of the donor thereof.
This
section applies to powers-of-attorney created by instruments executed
either before or after this Act comes into force.
Comment:
Section 2 of the Powers of Attorney Act cannot override the specific
provision of a statute which requires that a particular act should be
done by a party in person. When the Code requires the appearance of
an accused in a Court it is no compliance with it if a power of
attorney holder appears for him. T. C. Mathai v. District and
Sessions Judge, Thiruvananthapuram,
AIR
1999 SUPREME COURT 1385
3.
Payment by attorney under power, without notice of death, etc. good
Any person making or doing any
payment or act in good faith, in pursuance of a power-of-attorney,
shall not be liable in respect of the payment or act by reason that,
before the payment or act, the donor of the power had died or become
4[***] of unsound mind, 4[* * *] or insolvent, or had revoked the
power, if the fact of death, 4[* * *] unsoundness of mind, 4[* * *]
insolvency or revocation was not, at the time of the payment or act,
known to the person making or doing the same.
But
this section shall not affect any right against the payee of any
person interested in any money so paid; and that person shall have
the like remedy against the payee as he would have had against the
payer, if the payment had not been made by him.
This
section applies only to payments and acts made or done after this Act
comes into force.
4.
Deposit of original instruments creating powers-of-attorney
(a) An instrument creating a
power-of-attorney, its execution being verified by affidavit,
statutory declaration or other sufficient evidence may, with the
affidavit or declaration, if any, be deposited in the High Court 2[or
District Court] within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the
instrument may be.
(b) A
separate file of instruments so deposited shall be kept; and any
person may search that file, and inspect every instrument so
deposited, and a certified copy thereof shall be delivered out to him
on request.
(c) A copy of
an instrument so deposited may be presented at the office and may be
stamped or marked as a certified copy, and, when so stamped or
marked, shall become and be a certified copy.
(d)
A certified copy of an instrument so deposited shall, without further
proof, be sufficient evidence of the contents of the instrument and
of the deposit thereof in the High Court 2[or District Court].
(e) The High Court may, from time
to time, make rules for the purposes of this section, and
prescribing, with the concurrence of the State Government, the fees
to be taken under clauses (a), (b) and (c).
5[*
* *]
(g) This section
applies to instruments creating powers-of-attorney executed either
before or after this Act comes into force.
5.
Power-of-attorney of married woman
6[A
married woman of full age shall, by virtue of this Act, have power,
as if she were unmarried,] by a non-testamentary instrument, to
appoint an attorney on her behalf, for the purpose of executing any
non-testamentary instrument or doing any other act which she might
herself execute or do; and the provisions of this Act, relating to
instruments creating powers-of-attorney, shall apply thereto.
This section applies only to
instruments executed after this Act comes into force.
6.
Act 28 of 1866, section 39, repealed
[Repealed
by the Amending Act, 1891 (12 of 1891)].