Kathmandu, December 21:

Notary public service was extended throughout the nation today after the Notary Public Council

Nepal awarded licences to the lawyers in Darchula and Taplejung districts.

“The service is now available throughout the country. The NPCN today distributed licences to a lawyer in Darchula and seven in Taplejung. I believe this will benefit people in the districts as we have been receiving requests from people in these two districts to start notary public service there,” NPCN secretary Medani Paudel told mediapersons today.

The NPCN distributed 221 more licenses to lawyers today. Earlier, the number of notaries in the country was 1,630. As per the Notary Public Act-2007, lawyers are authorised to authenticate, certify and translate documents.

Accusing the NPCN, a government body regulating the notary public sector, of not properly monitoring the service, Notary Public Association Nepal, the apex body of notaries in the country, said unauthorised persons were still involved in preparing fake documents. “We have found that some cyber cafes and communication centres have been preparing fake documents

for students heading overseas for higher education,” Dhruba Bhattarai, central member of the NPAN, said.

Another central member of the NPAN Tara Kumar Shrestha accused the NPCN of not taking action against persons involved in such illegal activities. “We have forwarded the list of persons involved in such activities to the NPCN,” he added.

Saying that it has received numerous complaints regarding the involvement of unauthorised persons, the NPCN said it was preparing to launch surprise checks in suspected areas. “We will take necessary actions against them, as our investigation is going on,” Paudel added. He also said the NPCN had forwarded details of notary public — including their names, signatures and services — to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and embassies of different countries.