In India, As per General Clauses Act Section 3(3)
Affidavit consists of affirmation and declaration towards the case of the individual by the law permitted to affirm or show rather than swearing.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, an Affidavit is:
“A voluntary declaration of facts written down and sworn to by the declarant before an officer authorised to administer oaths, such as a notary public.”
In Latin, Affidavit Literally Means to “Pledge One’s Faith”
Valid Affidavit Features:
- A person would make an affidavit. The artificial juridical individuals or incorporated entities are not allowed to make any affidavit.
- The affiant (the person who makes the affidavit is known as the affiant) should be legally competent to make such a declaration.
- It must be a certified statement brought to the council which is competent to administer the oath. A legal Maxim in this regard worth noting is “judicio non-creditor nisi juratis” (in judicial proceedings, a testimony is not believed unless given on oath).
- The same must be on valid stamp paper and must be notarized.
- The affiant must mention his full identity which is his full name, the name of his father, his profession or trade, and the place of his residence.
- The affidavit would be split into paragraphs and each paragraph ought to be numbered.
- The administrator of the oath must reveal the affiant and indeed put his seal and signature.
- There is a need to verify the Affidavit. The same would not get validated effectively, the same could not be admitted in evidence.
In an affidavit, the affiant would provide his testimony only about two things:
- The facts which he knows, and when the affiant is providing the testimony about his knowledge, it cannot be given on behalf of someone else. For example, the Manager of a company is not allowed to furnish the affidavit on the grounds of the accountant of the company.
- The data that he confident to be correct. The same fact might not rely on his knowledge, however, the confidence relies on some data, in the concern, the data source should be mentioned in the affidavit and the affiant is liable to clarify the same concern through words like I am informed:
Amendment or Withdrawal in Affidavit
The facts would not be amended by an affidavit, however, some chances might come when the affidavit filed on record ought to be withdrawn or changed.
The revision or withdrawal in the affidavit shall come in the mentioned situations like new attributes come to the light, or the affidavit is based on some erroneous facts to add some facts which were ignored in the current affidavit.
Closure:
An affidavit consists of an essential and beneficial utility that the affiant can access, in reporting the actual facts, to the authority, for documents that are missing accidentally in a document because of the old format, new inclusion, providing the correct information, or otherwise.
