Legal Drafting · Chapter 5
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
The earlier units looked at court papers and registered deeds. But ordinary people need many simpler documents too. These are the papers we use in daily life. We use them when we deal with government offices. We also use them when we deal with each other. These documents in general use (सामान्य प्रयोगमा आउने लिखतहरू) include a few main types. They include recommendation letters (सिफारिस पत्र). They include no-objection or consent letters (स्वीकृतिपत्र). They include everyday applications (निवेदन). They also include the applications that register personal events like birth and death. These papers are shorter than a plaint (फिरादपत्र) or a sale deed (राजीनामा). They are also less technical. But they are not small matters. The office that receives them acts on what they say. So they must still be drafted with care. They must be accurate. They must be complete. They must follow the correct form.
These documents matter because modern life in Nepal runs through offices. A citizen often needs a paper from a ward office or a local level. He needs it to get a citizenship certificate. He needs it to get an electricity meter. He needs it for a drinking-water connection, a passport or a school admission. The paper certifies who he is and where he lives. Take a simple example. A young man in काठमाडौं turns sixteen. He needs his citizenship certificate. He cannot just walk into the District Administration Office and get it. First he needs a recommendation from his ward. That recommendation confirms where he lives and who his parents are. In this way a simple recommendation letter becomes the key to a formal right. Each such document has a settled layout. This unit teaches that layout. It teaches who issues the document. It teaches whom it is addressed to. It teaches what the document must certify.
A recommendation letter (सिफारिस पत्र) is usually issued by a ward office or local level. In it an authority certifies a fact about a person. "Certify" means to confirm officially that something is true. The letter then recommends that another office do something for that person. So the letter does two jobs at once. First, it certifies a fact. For example, it may certify that the person is a permanent resident of the ward. It may certify that he owns a certain house. Second, it recommends that the receiving office act on that fact. The commonest examples are easy to list. There is a recommendation to issue a citizenship certificate. There is a recommendation to connect electricity. There is a recommendation for a drinking-water connection. There is also a recommendation about the sale or transfer of land.
The layout is broadly the same for all of them. A recommendation letter has a fixed set of parts. A drafter must include every one. It carries a letterhead. The letterhead names the issuing local level and ward. For example, काठमाडौं महानगरपालिका, वडा नं. ५ को कार्यालय. It carries a letter number (पत्र संख्या) and a dispatch number (चलानी नं.) with the date (मिति). These let the office trace the letter in its records. It names the addressee. The addressee is the office that will act on the letter. This may be the District Administration Office (जिल्ला प्रशासन कार्यालय). It may be the Nepal Electricity Authority (नेपाल विद्युत् प्राधिकरण). It may be the Land Revenue Office (मालपोत कार्यालय). It has a subject line (विषय) that names the purpose. It has a body. The body states the facts certified and the recommendation. Finally it has the signature, designation and official seal (कार्यालयको छाप) of the issuing officer. That officer is usually the ward chairperson (वडा अध्यक्ष).
What changes from one letter to another is small. It is the addressee and the exact facts certified. A citizenship recommendation certifies the applicant's residence. It certifies his parentage or descent. It is sent to the District Administration Office, which issues citizenship. An electricity recommendation certifies that the applicant owns or occupies a certain house. It is sent to the electricity authority. A water recommendation certifies the same ownership or need. It goes to the water-supply office. A land-sale recommendation certifies facts about a plot. It is used before the Land Revenue Office. Here is an example. रामबहादुर श्रेष्ठ of ward 5 wants a new electricity meter. His ward will certify that he is a permanent resident. It will certify that the house at the stated plot (कित्ता नं.) is his. It will then recommend the connection. Offices rely on these certified facts. So an error is serious. Naming the wrong plot or the wrong person could wrongly give a benefit to someone. For this reason the ward checks the facts before it issues the letter.
A no-objection letter (स्वीकृतिपत्र) is also called a consent letter or a no-objection certificate. It records that a person or authority has no objection to a certain act. It records that they agree to it. The act might be many things. A neighbour may want to build on nearby land. A co-owner may want to transfer property. A family member may want to take foreign employment. A student may want to change schools. Someone may want to use a shared wall or passage. The letter is short. But it does important legal work. It turns an informal agreement into written proof.
A no-objection letter is needed because many acts affect the rights of others. The law may require the affected person's agreement first. Sometimes the receiving office requires it before the act can proceed. Putting that agreement in writing early helps in several ways. It prevents later disputes. It serves as evidence that the affected party really consented. It protects the rights of other people who might be harmed. It also satisfies the office that demands it before acting. Take an example. सीताराम श्रेष्ठ wants to build a boundary wall. He wants to build it right up to the line he shares with his neighbour रामबहादुर श्रेष्ठ. Later रामबहादुर might claim the wall crosses onto his land. A no-objection letter signed by रामबहादुर before building began is the clearest answer to that claim. A good no-objection letter has a few key parts. It names the person giving the consent. It identifies the person or act the consent is for. It states clearly that there is no objection. It ends with the date and signature.
Some events in a person's life must be registered with the State. These personal events are birth (जन्म), death (मृत्यु), marriage (विवाह), divorce (सम्बन्ध विच्छेद) and migration or change of residence (बसाइँसराइ). "Register" means to record the event in the official government records. These events are registered at the local registrar's office (स्थानीय पञ्जिकाधिकारीको कार्यालय). This is the ward office of the concerned local level. That local level is a rural municipality (गाउँपालिका) or an urban municipality (नगरपालिका). It is the one where the event happened or where the family lives. The informant must report the event within the time the law allows. The informant is the person who gives the information. He then applies for registration. He states the event, the persons concerned, and the date and place.
Registration matters because the registrar issues a certificate. That certificate is the official, State-recognised proof of the event. This proof is needed again and again in later life. A birth registration is needed to enrol a child in school. It is needed to get a citizenship certificate later. It is needed to prove age. A death registration is needed to settle the dead person's property. It is needed to claim inheritance. It is needed to close bank and pension accounts. A marriage registration proves the marriage. This matters for citizenship, property and travel. A migration record keeps the residence data of the local level up to date. Here is an example. रामबहादुर श्रेष्ठ's father dies. First रामबहादुर must register the death at the ward registrar's office. He must get the death-registration certificate. Only then can he begin the transfer (दाखिल खारेज) of his father's land at the Land Revenue Office. So timely and accurate registration protects a person's rights long after the event itself.