Anshul Agarwal

Once a person alienates his rights over a property by selling it, all the subsequent registrations carried out by him become infructuous. However, sellers could still execute multiple registrations on the same property to dupe buyers. Courts across the country are busy dealing with such cases of multiple registrations.

To put an end to this practice, the Andhra Pradesh government has decided follow in the footsteps of Madhya Pradesh, the first Indian state to amend the Indian Registration Act, 1908, and stop execution of multiple registrations over the same property. Andhra Pradesh has proposed to amend the law of 1908 by inserting a sub-section in Section 22 of the Act.

If a person who has already executed registration on a particular property again approaches the Registrar for another registry over the same property, this sub-section will provide for its rejection.

The state Cabinet recently passed an ordinance to this effect. As land falls under the concurrent list of the Constitution, the state will need the Centre’s approval to make this ordinance a legislation.

The Act mandates the registration of any immovable property worth over Rs 100. Section 17 of the Act talks about the transactions for which a compulsory registration is required, and Section 18 mentions those transactions for which registration is optional.

This amendment will have far-reaching consequences, as it will also make sure that all the rights pertaining to a certain property are effectively transferred through registration.

Other proposed changes

The electronic land bank will be further strengthened under the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme. The Andhra Pradesh government already has Webland, which serves as its electronic land bank. Clear land records will bring in more transparency in the sector. Digitisation of land records and making those accessible to the general public over internet will be the best way of eliminating fraud.

At present, registration of many documents is optional under the Indian Registration Act. The state has proposed that the optional clause of Section 18 will be removed to prevent ambiguity.

Section 31 of the Act allows for registration of documents at places other than the Office of the Registrar. The state proposes the registration should be executed only at the Registrar’s office, except when necessary otherwise.

Section 48 and 54 of the Act would also be amended, as they deal with land record index and authenticity of documents.

The objectives

The object of the registration process is not only to collect revenue for the government but to also ensure validity of transactions. So, the primary purpose of registration is to eliminate forgery through fabricated documents.

The registration process not only provides transaction details to public but also protection to the transacting parties. This motive stood defeated by the previous laws governing the process.

The new law will provide for transfer of rights such that once the registration is done, the seller will lose his rights, whereas the buyer will acquire rights over the property.