The Rest of the Registration Act

Wills: sections 40 to 46

Section 40: the testator, or after his death any person claiming as executor or otherwise under a will, may present it for registration.

Section 41: a will may be registered if the registering officer is satisfied that it was executed by the testator, and, after his death, that the testator is dead and that the person presenting it has a right to do so.

Sections 42 to 45: deposit of wills. A testator may deposit a sealed cover containing his will; the officer's procedure on deposit is prescribed; the testator may withdraw the cover; and on his death an application may be made to open it.

Section 46 saves certain enactments and the powers of Courts.

The books, entries and indexes: sections 51 to 57, and 16A

Section 51: the register-books, listed in [What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment]: Book 1 for non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property, Book 2 the refusal register, Book 3 wills, Book 4 miscellaneous documents relating to movables, Book 5 deposits of wills.

Section 52: the duties of registering officers when a document is presented: to endorse the day and hour, to give a receipt, and to copy the document into the proper book without unnecessary delay.

Section 53: entries in each book are numbered consecutively.

Sections 54 and 55: the indexes. Current indexes are kept, and section 55 prescribes their contents: Index I the names and additions of executants, Index II the property, Index III wills, Index IV the names in Book 4. Index II is what a title search of land actually uses, and Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act refers to the indexes kept under section 55.

Section 57: inspection and copies. The registering officer must allow inspection of Books 1 and 2 and the indexes to Book 1, and give certified copies of entries, on payment of the prescribed fees. This is what makes the register public and is the practical foundation of the notice rule.

Section 16A permits the books to be kept in computer floppies, diskettes or any other electronic form, subject to safeguards, which is the statutory basis of computerised registration.

Section 56 is repealed.

Endorsements, certificate and after: sections 58 to 66

Section 58: particulars endorsed. On every document admitted to registration the officer endorses the signature and addition of every person admitting execution, the signature and addition of every person examined, and, where any payment of consideration or delivery of property has been made in his presence, that fact.

Section 59: the endorsements are dated and signed by the registering officer.

Section 60: the certificate. After the requirements have been complied with, the officer endorses a certificate containing the word "registered", the number and page of the book. That certificate is admissible for the purpose of proving that the document has been duly registered, and that the facts in the endorsements have occurred as stated.

Section 61: the endorsements and certificate are copied into the margin of the register-book, and the document is returned to the person who presented it.

Sections 62 and 63 deal with a document in a language the officer does not understand, and with his power to administer oaths and record statements.

Sections 64 to 66: property in several sub-districts or districts. Where the land lies in more than one sub-district or district, the officer registering the document must forward a copy and a memorandum to the other offices, so that the record appears wherever a searcher would look. That is essential to the whole scheme, since a search is made where the land is.

Refusal, appeal and suit: sections 68 to 77

Sections 68 to 70: the Registrar's power to superintend and control Sub-Registrars, the Inspector-General's power to superintend registration offices and make rules, and his power to remit fines.

Section 71: reasons recorded. A Sub-Registrar refusing to register must record his reasons in Book 2, and endorse the word "registration refused" on the document.

Section 72: appeal. Where the refusal is on any ground other than denial of execution, an appeal lies to the Registrar within thirty days, and the Registrar may reverse or alter the order.

Section 73: application. Where the refusal is on the ground of denial of execution, the remedy is an application to the Registrar within thirty days, not an appeal.

Sections 74 to 76: the Registrar's procedure on such an application, his power to order registration, and the recording of an order of refusal.

Section 77: suit. Where the Registrar refuses to order registration, a civil suit may be instituted within thirty days for a decree directing the document to be registered; and if such a decree is passed and the document presented within thirty days, it is registered as if presented in time.

That ladder is worth holding in mind as a sequence: refusal by the Sub-Registrar, then appeal or application to the Registrar according to the ground, then suit.

Fees, penalties and miscellaneous: sections 78 to 91

Sections 78 to 80: fees are fixed by the State Government, must be published, and are payable on presentation.

Sections 81 and 82: penalties. Section 81 punishes a registering officer or other person who incorrectly endorses, copies, translates or registers a document with intent to cause injury. Section 82 punishes making false statements, delivering false copies, personation and abetment. Section 83 allows registering officers to commence prosecutions, and section 84 deems them public servants.

Section 85: unclaimed documents. Documents, other than wills, remaining unclaimed for two years may be destroyed.

Sections 86 and 87: a registering officer is not liable for anything bona fide done or refused in his official capacity; and nothing done is invalidated by a defect in his appointment or procedure. Section 87 is a curative provision of real practical value, since it prevents titles being upset by irregularities in the office.

Section 88: the registration of documents executed by Government officers or certain public functionaries, who need not appear in person.

Section 89: copies filed in Book 1. This section is worth stating separately, because it explains how transactions that never pass through a registration office nevertheless appear on the register. Four classes of copy must be sent to the registering officer within whose jurisdiction the property lies, and filed by him in Book No. 1:

• an officer granting a loan under the Land Improvement Loans Act 1883 sends a copy of his order;
• a Court granting a certificate of sale of immovable property under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 sends a copy of the certificate;
• an officer granting a loan under the Agriculturists' Loans Act 1884 sends a copy of any instrument mortgaging immovable property to secure it, and of the order where the property is mortgaged in the order itself;
• a Revenue Officer granting a certificate of sale to a purchaser at a public auction sends a copy of the certificate.

The point is that section 17(2) exempts several of these very documents from compulsory registration, so without section 89 a searcher of Book 1 would miss them. The section keeps the record complete by requiring copies to be filed even where registration is not required.

Sections 90 and 91: the exemption of certain documents executed by or in favour of Government, and inspection and copies of such documents.

Sections 67, 92 and 93 are omitted or repealed and are noted as such.

A worked example

Yashodhan presents a sale deed of land lying partly in two sub-districts.

Where? Under section 28, in the office of the Sub-Registrar of a sub-district in which some portion of the property is situate.

By whom? Under section 32, by a person executing or claiming under the deed, or his representative, assign or duly authenticated agent; and under section 32A he must affix his photograph and finger prints, as must each buyer and seller.

What does the officer do? Under section 34 he enquires whether the document was executed, satisfies himself of identity, and examines any agent's authority; under section 35, the executants admitting execution, he registers it.

Then? He makes the section 58 endorsements, dates and signs them under section 59, issues the section 60 certificate, copies the endorsements and certificate into the margin and returns the document under section 61, and copies the deed into Book 1 under section 51 with entries in the indexes under section 55.

The other sub-district. Under section 64 he forwards a copy and a memorandum to the other office, so a searcher there will find it.

Suppose the Sub-Registrar refuses because a party denies execution. He records his reasons in Book 2 under section 71. Yashodhan's remedy is an application to the Registrar under section 73, not an appeal, because the ground is denial of execution. If the Registrar also refuses, Yashodhan may bring a suit within thirty days under section 77.

Suppose instead the refusal is because the fee was not paid. The ground is not denial of execution, so the remedy is an appeal to the Registrar under section 72.

Suppose the Sub-Registrar's appointment turns out to have been irregular. Section 87 saves the registration: nothing done is invalidated by a defect in appointment or procedure.

Quick revision

• Where: land, the sub-district where any part lies, s.28; other documents, s.29; a Registrar may take what a subordinate could, s.30; private residence in extraordinary cases, s.31.
• Who: an executant, a claimant, a representative, assign or authenticated agent, s.32; photographs and finger prints, s.32A; powers of attorney, s.33.
• Officer's duty: appearance and enquiry into execution, identity and authority, s.34; register on admission, refuse on denial, s.35; summonses, ss.36 to 39.
• Wills: presented by the testator or, after death, a claimant, s.40; registered on satisfaction, s.41; deposit of a sealed cover, withdrawal and opening, ss.42 to 45.
• Books and indexes: s.51 five books; s.52 duties on presentation; s.55 four indexes, Index II being the property index; s.57 inspection and certified copies; s.16A electronic keeping.
• Endorsement and certificate: s.58 particulars; s.60 the certificate, admissible to prove due registration; s.61 copying and return; ss.64 to 66 copies to other sub-districts and districts.
• Refusal ladder: reasons recorded, s.71; appeal to the Registrar on any ground other than denial of execution, s.72; application to the Registrar where execution is denied, s.73; suit within thirty days where the Registrar refuses, s.77.
• Miscellaneous: fees, ss.78 to 80; penalties, ss.81 and 82; officers are public servants, s.84; unclaimed documents destroyed after two years, s.85; no invalidation by defect in appointment or procedure, s.87.
• ss.56, 67, 92 and 93 are repealed or omitted.

Test yourself

1. Where must a document affecting land be presented? In the office of the Sub-Registrar in whose sub-district the whole or some portion of the property is situate, under section 28.

2. Who may present a document for registration? Some person executing or claiming under it, or his representative or assign, or the agent of such a person duly authorised by a power of attorney executed and authenticated as section 33 requires.

3. What must the registering officer enquire into before registering? Whether the document was executed by the persons appearing, the identity of those persons, and, where a person appears as a representative or agent, his right to appear.

4. A Sub-Registrar refuses to register because one executant denies execution. What is the remedy? An application to the Registrar under section 73 within thirty days, not an appeal under section 72, which lies only where the refusal is on some other ground. If the Registrar also refuses, a suit lies within thirty days under section 77.

5. What is the effect of the certificate under section 60? It is admissible for the purpose of proving that the document has been duly registered in the manner provided by the Act, and that the facts mentioned in the endorsements have occurred as stated.

6. Which index does a search of land use? Index II, the index of property, kept under section 55; Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act refers to the indexes kept under that section.

7. Does an irregularity in the Sub-Registrar's appointment invalidate a registration? No. Section 87 provides that nothing done in good faith is invalidated by any defect in his appointment or procedure.