Q833. POA for Sale of Property in India & Consular attestation

Question: Dea Sir, Follwing are questions: Is POA executed on a plain paper(as in Canada no Indian non judicial stamps are available) for sale of her/his immovable property in india to an Indian resident i.e written in Canada by OCI requires any attestation, notorisation in Canada with two local witnesses? Is Canada a signatory to Hague Convention of Apostillation process? As the sellers are OCIs and are reluctant to go to do the same. Kindly reply please. Thank you, Dr saleem B. Hanchinal

Answer: Regarding your questions: • Power of Attorney document prepared abroad does not require Indian Stamp paper and can be drafted on plain white paper. • In Canada the Indian Consulate would require the presence of applicant for execution of Power of Attorney. My understanding is that two witnesses are required if the document being attested is a ‘WILL’ • Yes, both India and Canada are signatories to the Apostille Treaty • Apostille POA document sent from abroad should technically be accepted in India without Indian Consulate attestation but there are no guaranties that all authorities would accept documents from abroad without attestation from Indian Consulate. To avoid any inconvenience, it may be prudent to get apostilled documents attested by Indian Embassy/Consulate. • When it comes to property transactions Sub Registrars may insist on attestation by Indian Consulates. Keep in mind that in many places in India, they would easily recognize the attestation by the Indian Embassy/Consulate. • If the sellers are reluctant to get attestation of documents done in an appropriate acceptable manner, then the only option they would have is to be physically present in the Registration office in India to legally transfer the property. Transfer of property based on POA from abroad must have attestation from Indian Embassy/Consulate.