POWERS OF ATTORNEY
44. If a power of attorney, whether given for valuable consideration or not, is in the instrument creating the power expressed to be irrevocable for a fixed time therein specified, then in favour of a purchaser —
the power shall not be revoked for and during that fixed time, either by anything done by the donor of the power without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or by the death, marriage, unsoundness of mind or bankruptcy of the donor of the power;
any act done within that fixed time by the donee of the power in pursuance of the power shall be as valid as if anything done by the donor of the power, without the concurrence of the donee of the power, or the death, marriage, unsoundness of mind or bankruptcy of the donor of the power had not been done or happened; and
neither the donee of the power nor the purchaser shall at any time be prejudicially affected by notice either during or after that fixed time of anything done by the donor of the power during that fixed time without the concurrence of the donee of the power or of the death, marriage, unsoundness of mind or bankruptcy of the donor of the power within that fixed time.
—(1) The donee of a power of attorney may, if he thinks fit, execute or do any assurance, instrument or thing in and with his own name and signature and his own seal, where sealing is required, by the authority of the donor of the power.
(2) Every assurance, instrument and thing so executed and done shall be as effectual in law, to all intents, as if it had been executed or done by the donee of the power in the name and with the signature and seal of the donor thereof.
(3) This section shall apply to powers of attorney created by instruments executed before, on or after 1st August 1886.
—(1) Any person making or doing any payment or act, in good faith, in pursuance of a power of attorney, shall not be liable in respect of the payment or act by reason that before the payment or act the donor of the power had died or become of unsound mind, or bankrupt, or had revoked the power, if the fact of death, unsoundness of mind, bankruptcy or revocation was not at the time of the payment or act known to the person making or doing the same.
(2) This section shall not affect any right against the payee of any person interested in the money so paid; and that person shall have the like remedy against the payee as he would have had against the payer if the payment had not been made by him.
—(1) A statutory declaration by an attorney to the effect that he has not received any notice or information of the revocation of such power of attorney by death or otherwise shall, if made immediately before or within 3 months after any such payment or act, be taken to be conclusive proof of such non-revocation at the time when the payment or act was made or done.
(2) Where the donee of the power of attorney is a corporation aggregate, the officer appointed to act for the corporation in the execution of the power may make the statutory declaration in like manner as if that officer had been the donee of the power.
(3) Where probate or letters of administration have been granted to any person, as attorney for some other person, this section shall apply as if the payment made or acts done under the grant had been made or done under a power of attorney.
—(1) (a) An instrument creating a power of attorney, its execution being verified by affidavit, statutory declaration, notarial certificate or other sufficient evidence, or a true copy of the instrument duly compared therewith and marked by the Registrar, Deputy Registrar or Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court with the words “true copy”, or, if the instrument is registered in Malaysia, an office copy thereof, may be deposited in the Registry of the Supreme Court.
For the purposes of this section, a photographic reproduction of any such instrument made in such manner and of such dimensions as may be prescribed by general rule shall be deemed to be a true copy of the instrument.
The affidavit or declaration, if any, verifying the execution of any instrument creating a power of attorney, or, where an office or true copy of such an instrument is deposited, an office or true copy of that affidavit or declaration, shall be deposited with the instrument or copy of the instrument, and paragraphs (a) and (b) shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to such office or true copy.
(2) In the case of any instrument creating a power of attorney in a foreign language being so deposited, there shall be deposited therewith a translation thereof, certified by a sworn interpreter of the court, or if there is no interpreter attached to the court sworn to interpret in the language in which the instrument is written, the translation shall be verified by a statutory declaration of some person qualified to translate it.
(3) A separate file of instruments so deposited shall be kept, and any person may search that file and inspect every instrument so deposited, and an office copy thereof, and if in a foreign language, of the translation thereof, shall be delivered out to him on request.
(4) A copy of an instrument so deposited may be presented at the Registry, and may be stamped or marked as an office copy, and when so stamped or marked shall become and be an office copy.
(5) An office copy of an instrument so deposited shall without further proof be sufficient evidence of the contents of the instrument and of the deposit thereof in the Registry.
(6) If the instrument so deposited is in a foreign language, an office copy of the translation deposited with the instrument shall without further proof be admissible in evidence as a correct translation of the original document.
(7) The fees to be taken in the Registry shall be fixed by the Chief Justice with the concurrence of the President.
(8) If any such instrument so deposited at any time thereafter has been or is revoked, the Registrar of the Supreme Court, on being satisfied by affidavit or statutory declaration or otherwise that the instrument has been revoked, shall endorse thereon a certificate stating that it has been revoked and the date thereof, and thereupon the instrument shall be deemed to have been duly revoked as from the date of that certificate.
(9) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to affect or invalidate a revocation of any such instrument where no certificate is made or any earlier revocation thereof.