Circular No. 25600/C1/2018, Prevention of Fraudulent Document Registration, dated 7 June 2018

What the circular governs

Circular Number 25600/C1/2018 of the Registration Department applies when documents concerning immovable property are presented for registration. It builds on earlier instructions requiring registration officers to examine prior registration documents, patta and other records supporting the document holder’s ownership.

The procedure directly governs registration officers. It also affects sellers, owners, power of attorney applicants and other document presenters because they may have to produce original prior documents or evidence explaining why an original is unavailable.

Verification and scanning procedure

Registration officers must follow these steps for sale, transfer of rights, gift, settlement, mortgage and general power of attorney documents:

• After examining the original prior document, the officer must handwrite “Verified” on the left margin of its first page, add the date and sign below it.
• The certified page must be scanned only as a Reference Document. The software is designed so that this page does not appear in a later certified copy of the registered document.
• If repeated verification leaves no space on the first page, including for plot or flat transactions, the certification may be added to the reverse of the first page and that page scanned.
• Where several properties in one document come through different prior documents, every relevant prior document must be certified and scanned.
• Only the immediate prior document establishing the current owner’s acquisition needs certification. Earlier documents in the ownership chain need not be certified merely because they are produced.

Missing originals and ancestral property

When an original prior document is missing, the owner must submit a certified copy, a copy of the police complaint acknowledgement and a copy of the newspaper advertisement. A Non Traceable Certificate, if issued, must also be scanned with those materials as Reference Documents.

For ancestral property, ownership records such as patta and house tax receipts must be attached and scanned as part of the Main Document. No separate Reference Document scan is required for those records.

Receipt, return and audit

Registration officers must acknowledge receipt of original prior documents on the fee receipt by recording the document number. After scanning, the prior documents must be returned with the registered original to the person entitled to receive them.

If the main document remains in the office for further action, the prior documents may be returned separately on request. The office must record the return in a register containing the relevant document details, recipient’s name and signature, and the Sub Registrar’s initials. District Registrars responsible for audit must check compliance and separately report failures.