ASHISH GUPTA outlines some rules that determine which property documents need to be registered compulsorily
The Indian Registration Act 1902 and the Transfer of Property Act 1882 contain relevant provisions specifying documents that are compulsorily registrable, and those exempted from being registered. The registration of all documents is not essential. Under the law, some documents are compulsorily registrable. These include documents related to property. Registration of a document acts as notice to the general public.
According to Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882, any sale of immovable property whose value is Rs 100 or more needs to be registered. This effectively means all property sales need to be registered.
In addition, all forms of mortgages need to be registered. The only exception is a mortgage created by depositing of title deeds or equitable mortgage, which is not compulsorily registrable.
As per the provisions of Section 49 of the Indian Registration Act, in case any document that is compulsorily registrable is not registered, it does not convey a legally valid transfer title to the transferee. Moreover, such a document is not admitted as evidence of any transaction involving the property referred to in the document. However, an unregistered document may be received as evidence in a suit for specific performance under the Specific Relief Act, as evidence of part performance of a contract as per Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act 1882, or in any other related transaction not required to be effected by a registered instrument.
Under Section 17 of the Indian Registration Act 1902, there are a few documents that require registration compulsorily.
These include
A document of gift of property. Any gift deed irrespective of the value of the gifted property needs registration
All non-testamentary documents that create interest, right, or title in property All non-testamentary documents that extinguish any right, interest or title in property
Documents that declare, assign, limit or restrict interest, title, or right in property
All non-testamentary documents that acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of a transaction pertaining to right, title, or interest in property
All non-testamentary documents transferring or assigning an award of a court which affects the interest, right and title in a property
The documents may create, extinguish, assign, declare, limit or restrict interest, right or title in a property for the present or in the future.
Under Section 107 of the Transfer of Property Act 1882, lease of property from year to year, for a term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent, must be done only under registration. The term 'year to year' refers to a continuous lease from year to year - where the landlord has no option to terminate the lease at the end of the year without notice. The term 'reserving yearly rent' means the lease has no definite period, but the annual rent is determined. The word 'yearly' means the lease should run year after year or at least for more than one year. As such, any lease for over a year should be registered.
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