Registration Act, 1908 - FAQ
Registration Act, 1908 - FAQ
Registration Act, 1908 - FAQ
Question 3 Whether any person can write deeds and present for registration. Shall
that deed be legally accepted?
Answer. Yes. Any person executing an instrument, i.e., seller or buyer can write
any instrument of transfer of property.
For his help, the Department of Land Resources has developed and circulated
model drafts of 1 sale deed, 2 lease deed, 3 gift deed, 4 mortgage deed, 5
agreement to sell, 6 exchange deed, 7 Power of attorney, 8 Will deed may be
customized according to requirement and to be uploaded by States/UTs on their
websites. All such instruments shall be admitted by the Sub- Registrars and these
instruments will have the same evidentiary value as that of written by licensed deed
writers.
However, license of writing deeds has been provided to Deed Writers by
State Government under the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908, for this
purpose.
Question 4- What are the duties and liabilities of buyers and sellers while
purchasing an immovable property?
Answer- Before executing the sale deed, the seller must provide to the buyer, an
authenticated copy of the Record of rights (RoR) of agricultural land- (khatauni)
and the sale deed by which the seller had purchased that immovable property.
The purchaser may additionally ask- (1) whether the property is free from
mortgage and there are no unpaid taxes of Local Bodies, electricity board, etc. of
that property, (2) whether there is no litigation in court or any litigation in Local
Body about mutation, partition between family members of seller etc.,
If the property is being sold by a power of attorney, the purchaser must verify that
(1) the owner who executed the power of attorney is alive; (2) the power of attorney
is genuine, in force and it has not been cancelled by the Owner.
On sale- after the seller receives payment, he must deliver possession of property
to the buyer,
If the agricultural land is a Grant land to the member of scheduled caste or
scheduled tribe, it should be verified, whether the transaction is not in
contravention with the terms and conditions of grant and whether permission to
transfer the land has been obtained from State Government.
In some States, it has been notified that the above mentioned restriction does
not apply to mortgagee in favour of co-operative or scheduled banks and partition
among members of the family.
Question -9 Who can execute a Will? Are there any other conditions?
Answer(a) Any person above the age of 18 years and mentally sound may execute Will,
but a Will caused by fraud or coercion or by importunately will not be valid
and can be examined by a competent civil court. Therefore a Will must be
executed voluntarily.
(b) Parents or guardians cannot execute Will on behalf of minors or lunatic
children.
(c) A Will must be attested by minimum two witnesses is necessary.
(d) A Scribe (deed writer / advocate) cannot be called witness because they have
signed the Will in column of drafted by. Thus, two independent attesting
witnesses other than the scribe are necessary.
(e) Beneficiary under a Will should not sign as attesting witness.
In order to avoid disputes in implementation of a Will, description of property
and the name of the beneficiaries should be clearly written so that there is no
room for doubt.
Answer- No. It is not compulsory to register a Will. The testator may register a
Will at his option. It is better to register the Will so that if original Will is lost; a
certified copy can be obtained from the record in Sub-Registrar Office.
Question 11- Where can a Will be registered?
Answer- A Will can be registered in the office of any Sub-Registrar within India.
Question 15- Can a Will be registered after the death of the testator?
Answer- Yes, a Will can be registered after the death of the testator. The Party
claiming under the Will shall have to produce the original Will along with record
relating to the death of the testator, the witnesses and the document writer before
the Sub- Registrar for examination about the execution of the Will. If the Sub
Registrar is satisfied that the Will has been executed by that person and the person
is genuine, he will register it. (For details, please see Chapter VIII Section 40 and
41 of the Registration Act, 1908)
Question 16- What is the stamp duty and registration fees for registration of a Will?
Answer- No stamp duty is chargeable on registration of a Will deed. For
registration of Will during the life time of the testator, State Government has
notified the registration fees under section 78 of the Registration Act, 1908.
Question 17- Is the certified copy of a registered Will available to any person?
Answer- A certified copy of a registered Will is available to the testator during his
lifetime. After his death of the testator, any person can obtain a certified copy of
the Willby producing a proof of death of the testator.
Question 19- Does property get transferred by getting a General Power of Attorney
from the person selling it? Can the agent become owner of property?
Answer- No. It is wrong to say that ownership is transferred by getting General
Power of Attorney. Persons purchasing property must get the sale deed of that
immovable property registered in his name. This principle applies to other kinds of
documents of transfer of immovable property also. An agent cannot become the
owner of the property.
day. In such cases, the ordinary EC should be returned at the earliest possible time,
but not later than 3 working days.
Question 22 There have been cases of impersonation of the seller in the past. What
are the measures contemplated by the Department to prevent such practices?
Answer. It is the top priority of the Government to curb impersonation of the seller.
The Sub-Registrars have been asked to satisfy themselves about the identity
of executants, yet some persons manage to escape from the eyes of the SubRegistrar. Therefore, the following measure have been taken by the State
Governments to prevent impersonation;On the document of transfer of immovable property(i) Photographs of the seller/buyer are affixed
(ii) Finger prints of executants and witnesses are obtained
(iii) For power of attorney even witnesses have to produce photo and ID card.
If any document is registered by impersonation the real person can take a certified
copy of the document from the Sub-Registrar office and file a suit in the concerned
civil court for annulment of deed of transfer of immovable property.
Question 23: How can a person resident outside India acquire and Transfer of
Immovable Property in India?
(1) Acquisition of immovable property in India by persons resident outside India
(foreign national) is regulated in terms of section 6 (3) (i) of the Foreign Exchange
Management Act (FEMA), 1999 (42 of 1999) as well as by the regulations
contained in the Notification No. FEMA 21/2000-RB dated May 3, 2000, as
amended from time to time. Section 2 (v) and Section 2 (w) of FEMA, 1999 defines
`person resident in India' and a `person resident outside India', respectively. Person
resident outside India is categorized as Non- Resident Indian (NRI) or a foreign
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