How Is an Affidavit Attested for Delhi High Court?

What an affidavit is and why the Delhi High Court needs one

An affidavit is a written statement of facts that you swear or affirm to be true before a person authorised to administer oaths. In the Delhi High Court almost every filing carries one. A writ petition, an appeal, a bail application or a civil application is supported by an affidavit of the person filing it, confirming that the facts stated are true. A reply, a rejoinder, a compliance report or an undertaking to the court is usually in affidavit form too.

The affidavit is what turns your lawyer's drafting into your statement. The petition is written by the advocate; the affidavit is sworn by you. If something in the petition turns out to be false, it is the affidavit that makes you answerable for it. That is why the court insists that affidavits are properly attested, and why the Registry raises objections when they are not.

Affidavits also carry evidence. In civil suits, examination-in-chief is usually given by affidavit under Order 18 Rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 (CPC). In commercial suits, pleadings carry a statement of truth, and parties file affidavits of admission and denial of documents. In maintenance matters, both sides file affidavits of assets, income and expenditure in the format set by the Supreme Court in Rajnesh v. Neha (2020). Each of these must be attested in the same careful way.

This is a private law firm website, not the Delhi High Court's official website. The court's rules and practice directions on the form of affidavits are on its own website, and your advocate will prepare the affidavit in the format the court expects.

The law on who can attest an affidavit

Oath commissioner or notary affidavit: which one should you use?

Both are valid for the Delhi High Court. An oath commissioner is a person, usually an advocate, appointed by the High Court to administer oaths on affidavits for use in court. Oath commissioners appointed for the High Court work within its premises, which is convenient when you come with your lawyer to sign. District courts in Delhi have their own oath commissioners, appointed under the District and Sessions Judge's authority, who sit in the court complexes at Tis Hazari, Saket, Karkardooma, Rohini, Dwarka, Patiala House and Rouse Avenue.

A notary is appointed by the Central or State Government under the Notaries Act 1952 and has a registration number and a validity period. A notary affidavit is accepted under Section 139 CPC and Section 333 BNSS. Notaries are useful when you are not near the court: there are notaries in every district of the NCR, including Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram and Faridabad.

In practice, most affidavits for the Delhi High Court are attested by oath commissioners at the court, because the client is often signing alongside the lawyer on the day of filing. Where the client cannot come to court, a notary is fine, provided the notary's seal, registration number and signature are clear and the notary's registration was valid on the date of attestation. A smudged seal or an expired registration is a common reason for objections.

Whichever you use, the attesting officer must see you, see your identity document or have you identified by your advocate, administer the oath or affirmation, and then sign, seal and date the affidavit. An attestation done without the deponent being present is not a technical slip. It defeats the purpose of the oath.

How affidavit attestation in Delhi works: step by step

This is what a proper attestation looks like for a client signing an affidavit for a Delhi High Court filing.

1. Get the final draft from your lawyer

   The affidavit should be prepared after the petition, reply or application is in its final form, so that it refers to the right document and the right paragraphs. Ask for the full document it supports, not just the affidavit page.

2. Read the affidavit and the petition together

   Check your name, your father's or husband's name, your age, your address and every fact about you. If anything is wrong, have it corrected now. Do not sign and say you will fix it later.

3. Carry original identity proof

   Take an Aadhaar card, passport, voter ID or driving licence. For a company, take the board resolution or authority letter that authorises you to sign. For a minor, carry proof of guardianship if needed.

4. Sign in front of the oath commissioner or notary

   Sign each page where indicated, including the last page above the verification. Initial any handwritten correction. The officer will ask whether you understand the contents and whether they are true, and administer the oath or affirmation.

5. Check the seal, signature and date

   Before you leave, look at the attestation. It should carry the officer's signature, seal, registration or appointment details and the date and place. An unclear seal invites a Registry objection.

6. Hand the original to your lawyer

   The attested affidavit is scanned for e-filing or filed physically with the petition. Keep a copy for yourself. The original may be required later, so it should not be lost or reused for another matter.

The verification paragraph and the form of a High Court affidavit

Every affidavit ends with a verification. It says where and when it is verified and which paragraphs are true to the deponent's own knowledge, which are based on records, and which are based on legal advice believed to be true. A typical line reads: "Verified at New Delhi on this ___ day of ___ that the contents of paragraphs 1 to 6 are true to my knowledge, paragraphs 7 to 9 are based on records, and paragraphs 10 and 11 are based on legal advice believed to be true." The paragraph numbers must match the affidavit as finally typed.

The affidavit is drawn in the first person, in numbered paragraphs, and begins by describing the deponent: name, parentage, age, address and his or her connection with the case ("I am the petitioner", "I am the director of the respondent company and authorised to swear this affidavit"). It should not repeat the whole petition. A supporting affidavit usually says that the deponent has read the accompanying petition, that its contents are true and correct, and that it is not repeated for brevity.

In Delhi, affidavits made to be filed in court are generally exempt from stamp duty under the Indian Stamp Act, which is why High Court affidavits are usually typed on plain paper. Affidavits for other purposes, such as a bank, a school admission or a passport office, may need e-stamp paper. If someone insists you buy stamp paper for a court affidavit, ask your lawyer first.

Language matters too. Proceedings in the Delhi High Court are in English. If you are more comfortable in Hindi, the affidavit can be explained to you in Hindi, and many lawyers add a line that the contents were read over and explained to the deponent in Hindi. An affidavit sworn in Hindi will need an English translation for filing.

Ways to get an affidavit attested: time and cost

Signing for someone else: companies, minors, elderly parents and power of attorney holders

A company acts through people. The affidavit is sworn by a director or officer authorised by a board resolution or an authority letter, and that authority should be on record with the filing. The deponent should be someone who actually knows the facts or can speak to them from the company's records, and the verification should say which is which.

For a minor, the affidavit is sworn by the guardian or next friend who brings the case on the child's behalf. For a person who cannot sign because of illness or disability, the court's rules allow a thumb impression or a mark, with the attesting officer recording that the contents were read over and explained. In serious cases, the court can arrange for the statement to be recorded where the person is, rather than insisting on travel.

A power of attorney holder can swear an affidavit on matters within his own knowledge, such as what he did on the principal's behalf. He cannot depose to facts that only the principal knows. The Supreme Court made this point in Janki Vashdeo Bhojwani v. IndusInd Bank (2005). If your son in Delhi holds your power of attorney while you live in Toronto, he can sign for the steps he took, but an affidavit about what you saw or agreed should come from you. Our guide on how NRIs can hire a Delhi High Court lawyer and give a power of attorney covers this in detail.

The same care applies to the vakalatnama, which is a separate document with its own signatures. Our guide on what a vakalatnama is and how to sign one explains it.

Affidavits sworn abroad for a Delhi High Court case

If you live outside India, you have two main routes. The first is to swear the affidavit before an Indian consular officer at the nearest embassy, high commission or consulate. Indian consular officers are empowered to administer oaths under the Diplomatic and Consular Officers (Oaths and Fees) Act 1948, and an affidavit attested at a mission is generally accepted without further authentication. Most missions require an appointment and charge a fee.

The second route is a local notary in the country where you live, followed by authentication. India is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, so a document notarised in another member country (the UK, the USA, Australia and most of Europe, for example) can be apostilled by that country's designated authority. In countries outside the Convention, the document is usually legalised through the local authorities and the Indian mission. Check the current requirement with your advocate, because missions and courts can be particular.

Advocate B.K. Singh's practice with clients abroad is to send the affidavit in its final, paginated form with a one-page note on where to sign, what to carry and which route to use, and to ask for a clear scan of the attested document before the original is couriered. If the seal is unclear or a page is unsigned, that is caught on the scan, not when the courier reaches Delhi ten days later.

Courts have at times accepted affidavits attested by video, or a scanned copy filed with an undertaking to file the original later, especially in urgent matters. That is a matter of practice and court permission, not a right, so check the current position for your case. For other ways NRIs manage cases here, see our page for NRI and overseas clients, and for joining hearings from abroad, our guide on how virtual hearings work in Delhi High Court.

Checklist before you sign

• The affidavit refers to the correct petition, appeal or application, by its correct title.
• Your name, parentage, age and address are correct and match your identity document.
• Every fact about you, your dates and your amounts is accurate.
• The verification lists the right paragraph numbers and says which are from knowledge, records or legal advice.
• There are no blank spaces left to be filled after you sign.
• Every page has a place for your signature, and you sign each one.
• Handwritten corrections are initialled by you and the attesting officer.
• You carry original identity proof, and authority documents if signing for a company.
• The attesting officer's seal, signature, registration details and date are clear.
• You keep a copy of the signed affidavit for your own record.

What usually goes wrong with affidavits

The most common problem is timing. The client signs an affidavit early, then the petition is revised, new paragraphs are added, and the affidavit now verifies paragraphs that have been renumbered or changed. The Registry may not notice, but the other side will, and a judge who finds that the affidavit does not match the petition will not be pleased. When Advocate B.K. Singh's office prepares a filing, the affidavit is printed and dated only after the final draft is settled, and the client reads the petition and the affidavit together at the oath commissioner's table before signing.

The second problem is signing on unfinished pages. Some clients sign a stack of blank affidavit pages "to save time". That is dangerous: you are swearing to something you have not read. If the content later turns out to be wrong, the affidavit is still yours.

Third, attestation without presence. Touts outside court complexes and online sellers offer to "get it attested" without you appearing. An attestation of that kind is irregular, and if challenged, it can expose both the deponent and the attesting officer to serious consequences. Fourth, small defects: an unclear seal, an expired notary registration, a missing date, a signature on only the last page. Each of these produces a Registry objection, which our guide on Registry objections and how to cure them explains.

Affidavits for criminal matters and evidence

In bail applications and petitions to quash an FIR under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 (BNSS) (old Section 482 CrPC), the petitioner's affidavit supports the facts stated. If the accused is in custody, the affidavit is often sworn by a family member, such as a father, wife or brother, who can speak to the facts from personal knowledge or from records, and the jail authorities can arrange attestation where the accused himself must sign.

In a quashing petition based on a settlement, the complainant's affidavit confirming the settlement is central. The court usually wants the complainant present, in person or by video, to confirm that the settlement is voluntary. A complainant's affidavit attested casually, or one that does not match the settlement deed, can delay the matter or lead the court to doubt the settlement.

Where electronic records such as emails, WhatsApp messages or bank statements are relied on, a certificate under Section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam 2023 (old Section 65B of the Evidence Act) is usually needed, and it too is signed and verified. Your lawyer will tell you who should sign it.

Which court's attestation is accepted where

An affidavit for the Delhi High Court can be attested by a Delhi High Court oath commissioner, a notary from anywhere in India with valid registration, or an authorised officer abroad as explained above. You do not need to come to Delhi to swear it. A notary in Ghaziabad or Gurugram is fine for a Delhi High Court case. Our page on the Delhi High Court explains the court's sides and the matters it hears.

District court oath commissioners attest affidavits mainly for use in the district courts, but an affidavit attested by them for a High Court filing is normally accepted too. If in doubt, use the High Court's oath commissioners or a notary. The same basic rule governs every affidavit attestation in Delhi, at whatever court: the deponent appears, is identified, swears or affirms, and signs in the attesting officer's presence.

For the Supreme Court, the filing is handled by an Advocate-on-Record and the affidavit is attested in the form the Supreme Court Rules require. If your Delhi High Court matter goes on to the Supreme Court, fresh affidavits will be prepared; the High Court affidavit is not reused.

What to do this week

If your lawyer has sent you an affidavit, read it alongside the petition or reply it supports. Make a list of every error, however small, and send it before you go to sign. Fix a time with your lawyer when the final version will be ready, and go in person with your identity document.

If you are abroad, contact the Indian mission or a local notary now to find the earliest appointment, and ask your lawyer which route the matter needs. Plan the courier time backwards from the date the reply or petition must be filed.

If an affidavit you signed earlier contains a mistake, tell your lawyer at once. A correction filed promptly by way of an additional affidavit is far better than an error discovered by the other side. For an overview of how filings move through the court once signed, see our guide on e-filing in Delhi High Court and our main page on the Delhi High Court.

If you need advice on your papers or updates on the law, contact Advocate B.K. Singh.