Declaration of Loss

What this document contains

7 clauses every declaration of loss carries, plus 2 you can add.

1. 01

   Deponent

   The opening recital naming who is making the statement — name, age, parentage and address. The only clause carrying the deponent's personal particulars, and the one that sets whether the document reads as declared, affirmed or sworn.

2. 02

   The document

   Identifies what was lost and establishes that the deponent was entitled to hold it. An issuer will not reissue to someone who has not first said the original was theirs.

3. 03

   How it was lost

   When, where and how. An issuer reads this to decide whether the loss is credible and whether a police report should exist.

4. 04

   Diligent search

   That the deponent looked and could not find it, and — the limb a registrar or bank actually relies on — that it was never pledged, sold or deposited as security.

5. 05

   Undertaking if it is found

   Promises to surrender the original if it turns up and never to use it. What stops a duplicate becoming a second usable copy.

6. 06

   No fraudulent intent

   Disclaims any intent to evade a debt, tax, obligation or proceeding. Takes no input. Banks and passport authorities routinely refuse a document that omits it, which is why it is mandatory rather than optional.

7. 07

   Verification

   Affirms the numbered assertions above are true and nothing material is concealed, and carries the deponent's signature block. This is the paragraph that makes a false statement actionable — sworn or not.

Optional clauses

• Police report

  Quotes the report filed with the police. Optional, and named precisely — most lost documents produce a non-cognizable report or an online acknowledgement, not an FIR.

  Worth adding when: the user has reported the loss to the police, or the issuer has asked for a police report

• Request for a duplicate

  Asks the issuer to reissue. Optional — some issuers want the request on their own form instead.

  Worth adding when: the issuer accepts the request in the affidavit rather than on a separate form

What the law requires

Attestation

An affidavit takes effect only when sworn or affirmed before a person authorised to administer an oath — a notary, oath commissioner, or magistrate. Drafting and signing it alone achieves nothing.

Notaries Act 1952, s. 8; Oaths Act 1969, s. 4

Oath or affirmation

The deponent chooses. Affirmation carries no religious observance and is the usual choice; an oath is equally valid. Neither is stronger evidence than the other, and no officer may require one over the other.

Oaths Act 1969, ss. 5–6

False statements

A statement the deponent knows to be false is punishable. The verification is not a formality — it is what makes the declaration actionable.

Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023, ss. 227–229 (formerly IPC ss. 191–193)

First-hand knowledge only

An affidavit states facts within the deponent's own knowledge. It must not be used to assert facts about a third party's rights or affairs — those are for that person to swear to, or for a document to prove.

Code of Civil Procedure 1908, Order XIX rule 3

Stamp paper is not optional here

Unlike an agreement, which binds the parties whether stamped or not and is merely inadmissible until duty is paid, an affidavit on plain paper is simply refused by the authority it is addressed to. Buy the stamp paper before the notary visit, not after.

Indian Stamp Act 1899, Sch. I Art. 4

An indemnity is a different instrument

Registrars and banks frequently ask for an indemnity bond alongside an affidavit of loss. Do not fold the indemnity into this affidavit: a promise to indemnify is a contractual obligation, and it may take the instrument out of Article 4 and onto the indemnity-bond article, changing the stamp duty. Execute it as a separate bond.

Indian Stamp Act 1899, Sch. I Arts. 4 and 34

Report first, swear second

Where a police report is quoted, it must exist before the affidavit is sworn. An affidavit that recites a report number obtained afterwards states as fact something that was not true when it was sworn.

Share certificates

For lost share certificates, SEBI norms require the holder to advertise the loss in a newspaper and furnish an indemnity before a duplicate is issued. The affidavit alone is not enough.