Court
Handled by Advocate N. J. Parmar, B.A., LL.B., more than thirty-five years at the Bar. Court practice and notaryship run together: under section 3 of the Notaries Act, 1952 read with Rule 3 of the Notaries Rules, 1956, notaries are appointed from among advocates of long standing, and the application is routed through the court where the advocate practises.
Matters handled
- Defence at trial before the Magistrate and Sessions courts
- Bail applications — regular and anticipatory. Bail matters →
- Private complaints, and applications where a complaint is not being registered
- Quashing petitions, where proceedings ought not to continue
- Cheque bounce prosecutions under section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act. More →
- Matrimonial criminal proceedings, which frequently run alongside family court matters
- Appeals and revisions
If you have been called to a police station, or an FIR has been registered, take advice before you make a statement — not afterwards. Bring every document you have, including the ones that are unhelpful; the most common cause of a defence going badly is a document the client did not mention because he thought it did not matter. Do not destroy, alter or conceal anything, and do not approach witnesses. Those actions convert a defensible matter into an indefensible one.
For complainants
Where you are the person wronged, the first questions are whether the facts disclose an offence at all — many grievances are contractual disputes rather than crimes — and if so, how the complaint should be framed and where it should go. Pursuing a civil matter through a criminal forum wastes months and rarely succeeds. You will be told honestly which you have. Complaint drafting →
How instructions are taken
Fully and frankly, in confidence. An advocate can only work with the facts he is given, and a defence built on a partial account collapses at the worst possible moment. An honest assessment of the strength of the matter, and of what it will realistically cost and how long it will realistically take, comes at the first meeting.
Where a claim is time-barred, where the document relied on was never registered and therefore cannot be received in evidence of the transaction under section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908, or where the realistic recovery is less than the cost of recovering it — you will be told at the first meeting, not after money has been spent. A settlement reached quickly is very often worth more than a decree obtained slowly.
What to bring
- Every document you have, including the unhelpful ones
- Photo ID
- A dated account of what has happened
- Any notice or court paper already received or sent
- Any FIR, summons, notice or court paper received
- Names and details of any witnesses
- A full and frank account of the facts