Circular, Letter No. 33760/U1/2022, Fraudulent Registration Enquiry Procedure, 2022
The Office of the Inspector General of Registration, Chennai issued Circular Letter Number 33760/U1/2022, dated 27 September 2022, prescribing instructions for enquiries into fraudulent registrations and implementing Tamil Nadu Act Number 41 of 2022. The Act amended the Registration Act, 1908 in Tamil Nadu and gives the Registrar power to cancel a document found to have been registered in contravention of Section 22-A or Section 22-B.
What the circular does
Circular Letter Number 33760/U1/2022, dated 27 September 2022, was issued by the Office of the Inspector General of Registration, Chennai after Tamil Nadu Act Number 41 of 2022 received Presidential assent on 6 August 2022 and was notified on 16 August 2022. It gives instructions for implementing the amendment, including enquiries into fraudulent registrations and the Registrar's power to cancel documents registered contrary to Section 22-A or Section 22-B of the Registration Act, 1908.
Background
The Office of the Inspector General of Registration had previously prescribed procedures for District Registrars to enquire into fraudulent registrations and pass reasoned orders. Deputy Inspectors General of Registration were appointed as appellate authorities for orders passed by District Registrars.
An earlier procedure allowing registered documents to be annulled had been withdrawn following the Supreme Court decision in Satyapal Anand versus State of Madhya Pradesh and Others, which held that the department did not then have power to cancel a registered document. Tamil Nadu Act Number 41 of 2022 subsequently amended the Registration Act, 1908 for Tamil Nadu and expressly provided cancellation powers where registration breached Section 22-A or Section 22-B.
Documents covered
The Registration Act provisions reproduced in Circular Letter Number 33760/U1/2022 cover the following documents:
- Transfers involving property belonging to the State Government, a local authority or the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority.
- Transfers involving property belonging to, given to or endowed for covered religious institutions.
- Transfers involving Bhoodan land vested in the Tamil Nadu State Bhoodan Yagna Board.
- Transfers involving Wakf property under the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board.
- Transfers of land converted into house sites without development permission, subject to the stated exception for a house site previously registered as a house site.
- Cancellation of a sale deed without the consent of the person claiming under that sale deed.
- Forged documents, including documents registered through impersonation or claims based on forged records such as patta, tax receipts, death certificates or legal heir certificates.
- Transactions prohibited by a Central or State law.
- Transfers of immovable property attached by a competent authority, court or tribunal.
- Any other document specified by the State Government through notification.
Who may be affected
Property buyers, owners and claimants may be affected if a registered document falls within these prohibited or fraudulent categories. Registration officials may enquire into such registration, and the Registrar may cancel the document if the enquiry establishes that it was registered contrary to Section 22-A or Section 22-B.
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Common questions
Can the Registrar cancel a fraudulently registered property document?
Yes. Tamil Nadu Act Number 41 of 2022 gives the Registrar power to cancel a document found to have been registered in contravention of Section 22-A or Section 22-B of the Registration Act, 1908.
Does the circular cover property documents registered through impersonation?
Yes. A document registered through impersonation is listed as a forged document covered by Section 22-B.
Can a sale deed be cancelled without the buyer's or claimant's consent?
The circular lists cancellation of a sale deed without the consent of the person claiming under that sale deed as a document that must be refused registration.
Are unapproved house sites covered?
Yes. Transfers of land converted into house sites without planning permission are covered, but the source states an exception where the same house site was previously registered as a house site.
