What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment
Chapter Fifty-Five
Syllabus topic 4.1, "Registration Act, 1908"
Pages 296 to 300 of 378
In one line
The Registration Act sets up an official record of dealings in land, staffed by registering officers in every district, so that a buyer can find out what has already been done with the property.
In exam wording: the Registration Act 1908 is an Act to consolidate the enactments relating to the registration of documents; it came into force on 1 January 1909; and Part II establishes the registration establishment, from the Inspector-General of Registration down to the Sub-Registrar of each sub-district.
Why a registration system exists
The Act is machinery, and its purposes are worth stating because they explain every rule in it.
Publicity. A registered document is on a public record that anyone may search. Land is expensive, invisible dealings are easy, and a buyer needs a way to discover what his seller has already done. This is why section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, in Explanation I, treats registration as notice to the world.
Prevention of fraud and forgery. Registration requires the parties to appear before a public officer who satisfies himself of their identity and of the execution. That makes a forged conveyance far harder.
Preservation of evidence. The register-books survive fires, floods and dishonest custodians in a way private deeds do not, and copies from them are admissible.
Order of priority. A public record with dates makes it possible to say which of two competing dealings came first, which is what section 48 of the Transfer of Property Act needs.
The Supreme Court put the purposes in almost these words in Suraj Lamp and Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656, decided on 11 October 2011 by Raveendran, Patnaik and Gokhale JJ.
Facts. The Court examined the practice, widespread in and around Delhi, of transferring immovable property without a registered conveyance: the seller would deliver possession and execute an agreement of sale, a general power of attorney and a will in the buyer's favour, a package the Court called an SA/GPA/WILL transfer. The purpose was to escape stamp duty, registration fees and capital gains tax, and to place undisclosed money in property.
Held. Immovable property can be legally and lawfully transferred or conveyed only by a registered deed of conveyance. An agreement of sale, a power of attorney and a will, singly or together, do not convey title and do not amount to a transfer, nor can they be recognised as a valid mode of transfer. As to section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, the Court held that it gives the proposed transferee a limited protection: it disentitles the transferor from disturbing the possession he has given, but it has nothing to do with ownership, which stays with the vendor until a registered deed of sale is executed.
What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment
Why it matters here. It is the reason Module IV exists on this syllabus. The Court identified the harms of avoiding registration, in orderliness, discipline, public notice and clear title, and those are exactly the purposes this Act serves.
Sections 1 to 3: extent, commencement and definitions
Section 1 gives the short title, extent and commencement. The Act came into force on 1 January 1909.
Section 2 is the definition section, and three of its clauses are used constantly:
"Addition", clause (1), means the place of residence, and the profession, trade, rank and title of a person described, and, in the case of an Indian, his father's name, or where he is usually described as the son of his mother, his mother's name. This is what makes an entry in the register identify a real person.
"Book", clause (2), includes a portion of a book and any number of sheets connected with a view to forming a book.
"Immovable Property", clause (6), includes land, buildings, hereditary allowances, rights to ways, lights, ferries, fisheries or any other benefit to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth, but not standing timber, growing crops nor grass. This is the positive definition used in [What Property Means, and Movable against Immovable Property].
"Lease", clause (7), includes a counterpart, kabuliyat, an undertaking to cultivate or occupy, and an agreement to lease. The breadth matters: an agreement to lease is registrable in the same way as a lease.
Sections 3 to 16: the registration establishment
Part II sets up the officers and the books, and a student needs the structure rather than the detail.
Section 3: the Inspector-General of Registration. The State Government appoints an Inspector-General of Registration for the territories under its administration, who superintends the registration offices and may make rules.
Section 4 provides for districts and sub-districts, and section 5 for their formation and alteration by the State Government.
Section 6: Registrars and Sub-Registrars. The State Government appoints a Registrar for each district and a Sub-Registrar for each sub-district. The Sub-Registrar is the officer a member of the public actually deals with; the Registrar is his superior and hears certain appeals and applications, as sections 72 and 73 provide.
Sections 7 and 8 provide for the offices of Registrar and Sub-Registrar, and for the Inspector-General's control.
Sections 9 to 15 deal with the working arrangements: the delegation of a Registrar's powers, the establishment of offices, and the seal of each office.
Section 16: the register-books and fire-proof boxes. The State Government supplies the register-books, and every book is to be bound in the manner and kept in the custody prescribed. The books are the record the whole Act exists to produce, and section 51 lists them: Book 1 for non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property, Book 2 for the refusal register, Book 3 for wills, Book 4 for miscellaneous documents relating to movables, and Book 5 for deposits of wills.
What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment
That list is worth remembering, because Book 1 is the one a title search means, and Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act refers to the books kept under section 51 of this Act.
The vocabulary a student needs
Execution is the signing of a document by the person making it.
Presentation is the act of taking a document to the proper officer for registration, which sections 23 to 26 time and section 32 governs as to who may do it.
Admission of execution is the executant's acknowledgement before the registering officer that he signed the document, which section 35 requires the officer to record.
Endorsement is the note the officer makes on the document under section 58, recording the signatures, admissions and payments, and section 60 then certifies that registration is complete.
Copying into the book is what registration actually consists of. Section 51 requires the officer to copy the document into the appropriate register-book, and it is that copy which survives.
A worked example
Nandkumar buys a shop at Amravati from Ojas and they execute a sale deed.
Where do they go? To the Sub-Registrar of the sub-district in which the shop is situate, appointed under section 6, section 28 requiring a document affecting immovable property to be presented in the office of the sub-district where the property lies.
What happens there? Ojas presents the deed and admits execution under section 35. The officer satisfies himself of identity, makes the endorsements required by section 58, copies the document into Book 1 under section 51, and issues the certificate under section 60.
What does that achieve? From that date the transaction is on a public record. Under Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, anyone afterwards acquiring the shop is deemed to have notice of the deed, provided the registration was completed in the prescribed manner and the document was duly entered in the books kept under section 51.
Why does it matter to Nandkumar? Because it is the only way ownership passes at all. On Suraj Lamp and Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656, immovable property can be conveyed only by a registered deed, and no combination of an agreement, a power of attorney and a will will do instead.
What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment
And if Ojas had earlier mortgaged the shop by a registered deed? Nandkumar would be fixed with notice of it whether or not he searched, which is precisely the publicity the Act exists to produce.
What it does NOT mean
Registration does not validate a bad document. It records what was executed. A deed void for want of capacity or for an unlawful object is no better for being registered.
Registration is not proof of title. India has a system of registration of documents, not of title. The register shows what was executed and by whom; it does not guarantee that the executant owned anything.
Not every document may be registered. Section 18 lists what is optional and section 17 what is compulsory; a document outside both is not registrable.
The Sub-Registrar does not adjudicate. His function is ministerial: identity, execution, fees and copying. Disputes about title are for the courts.
Notice under Explanation I is not automatic. The registration must have been required by law and properly completed, and the entries duly made under sections 51 and 55.
Distinctions
| Officer | Appointed under | Function |
|---|---|---|
| Inspector-General of Registration | s.3 | Superintends registration offices, makes rules |
| Registrar of a district | s.6 | Superior officer; hears applications and appeals under ss.72 and 73 |
| Sub-Registrar of a sub-district | s.6 | The officer who registers documents day to day |
| Register-book, s.51 | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Book 1 | Non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property |
| Book 2 | The refusal register |
| Book 3 | Wills and authorities to adopt |
| Book 4 | Miscellaneous documents relating to movables |
| Book 5 | Deposits of wills |
Quick revision
- The Act came into force on 1 January 1909 and consolidates the law on registration of documents, not of title.
- Purposes: publicity and notice; prevention of fraud and forgery; preservation of evidence; and a basis for priority.
- s.2(6) gives the positive definition of immovable property; s.2(7) makes "lease" include an agreement to lease; s.2(1) "addition" is what identifies a person in the register.
- s.3 Inspector-General; s.6 a Registrar for each district and a Sub-Registrar for each sub-district; s.16 the register-books, supplied by the State Government and kept as prescribed.
- s.51 lists the five books; Book 1 is the one a title search means, and Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act refers to books kept under it.
- Steps: execution, presentation, admission of execution, endorsement, copying into the book, certificate.
- Suraj Lamp and Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656: only a registered deed of conveyance transfers immovable property.
Test yourself
1. What are the purposes of registration? Publicity, so that dealings with land are on a public record and later acquirers have notice; prevention of fraud and forgery, by requiring appearance before a public officer; preservation of evidence in the register-books; and a basis for deciding priority between competing dealings.
What the Registration Act Does, and the Registration Establishment
2. Does registration prove that the executant owned the property? No. India registers documents, not title. The register records what was executed and by whom, and does not guarantee that the executant had anything to convey.
3. Which officer registers a sale deed of a shop, and where? The Sub-Registrar of the sub-district in which the property is situate, section 6 providing for his appointment and section 28 for presentation in that office.
4. What does section 2(7) add to the ordinary meaning of "lease"? It includes a counterpart, a kabuliyat, an undertaking to cultivate or occupy, and an agreement to lease, so an agreement to lease is treated as a lease for the purposes of the Act.
5. Which register-book holds a sale deed of land, and why does it matter? Book 1, which holds non-testamentary documents relating to immovable property. It matters because Explanation I to section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act deems a person acquiring property to have notice of an instrument duly entered in the books kept under section 51.
6. Name the steps by which a document is registered. Execution by the parties; presentation to the proper officer within the time allowed; admission of execution before him; the endorsements he makes; copying into the appropriate register-book; and the certificate of registration.
The rest of this subject
These notes are cut from the University's printed syllabus. Open the syllabus itself, or the past papers, for the same subject.