A magistrate’s seal for Rs 400

NEW DELHI: Want an official seal for your document? All you have to do is make a visit to the walled city. Government seals are manufactured illegally in scores of shops throughout the city.
As a rule, these seals are made in shops only on the basis of written orders from the concerned department. But go with someone known to the shopkeeper, and the bidding starts right away: Rs 200 for college principals, Rs 300 for medical officers, Rs 400 - Rs 500 for magistrates.
The rates go up as the authority goes higher.It’s a specialised business: not everybody makes all kinds of seals. And in some cases, as in police seals, you have to go through ‘select customers’. ‘‘I don’t make police seals unless requested by someone very close. And as you know its not safe these days, you need to have proper contacts,’’ says a shopkeeper.
Seals of college principals and university authorities are freely doing the rounds in university hostels. Many of these are passed down from one batch to the other. ‘‘If this is the case, then it’s a serious matter and needs to be looked into immediately. We always check certificates during the time of admissions but never verify the seals used. One possible way out could be to designate gazetted officers through a notification,’’ says Prof K R Sharma, former Dean of Delhi University. Police records reveal only six arrests in the past decade without any conviction. ‘‘It’s quite serious but it shouldn’t be very difficult for the police to apprehend the culprits,’’ says Vijay Karan, former Delhi Police commissioner and CBI chief.