LUCKNOW: The Cabinet took an important decision related to the registration of property sales on Tuesday, allowing the department of stamp and registration to carry out a mandatory check of property ownership details before registering the sale.
Minister of state (independent) for stamp and registration Ravindra Jaiswal said that under the new rules, the details of which will be formulated soon, verification of ‘khatauni’ or land records and ownership-related documents will be made mandatory before property registration to prevent the registration of fake or disputed land.
“We saw in many cases that property is sold by individuals who are not the actual owners. There were also instances of registration of sale deeds for prohibited or restricted properties, sale of property beyond one’s legal ownership rights, sale of attached properties and even sale deeds for land owned by the Central or state govt. Such cases later lead to disputes and cause prolonged litigation and hardships for the public,” he said.
Currently, under Section 35 of the Registration Act, 1908, sub-registrars have limited powers to refuse registration of documents, because of which registrations sometimes take place even in suspicious cases. The proposed changes are aimed at increasing their powers.
As per the proposed amendments, Section 22-A will allow restrictions on the registration of certain categories of documents. Section 22-B will include provisions to ensure identification of immovable property before registration, while Section 35-A(1) states if documents presented for registration of immovable property under Section 17(1) do not include necessary papers related to ownership, rights, identification, lawful possession or transfer, as specified by the state govt through a notification in the gazette, the registration officer will have the authority to refuse registration.
“Once the changes are implemented, this system will effectively prevent the registration of fake and disputed properties. Similar amendments were also made in other states to control such issues. After Cabinet approval, the bill will now be presented before the state legislature for its approval,” Jaiswal added.
