CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has refused to adjudicate on matters of cancellation of registration of property documents, and refusal of the concerned authorities to cancel the registration, since remedy is available under the Registration Act and in civil courts.
The order, considered a landmark judgement consolidating the powers on Registration Department, was passed by Justice R Suresh Kumar. A category of writ petitions were filed for cancelling registered sale deeds or settlement deeds of immovable properties on grounds of fraud. Another batch sought action against the sub-registrars concerned for refusing to register a document. The third category of petitions questioned the action of sub-registrar keeping documents as ‘pending’, either over ground of under-valuation or payment of deficit stamp duties.
Referring to the first category of petitions, the judge ordered, “ The parties can either approach the competent civil court or the registrar concerned, if the amending Act is given effect to.” He dismissed petitions which challenged the orders of registrars refusing registration over various reasons, as appeal remedy is provided under section 72 of the Registration Act, 1908.
The judge said those petitions which questioned the decision of a registrar to hold back documents should be listed before the appropriate bench for decision. Government counsel Richardson Wilson, appearing for the Registration Department, informed the court on the passing of a Bill for Registration (TN Second Amendment) Act, 2021 in the Assembly. It introduces sections 77-A and 77-B to the Registration Act to provide for a mechanism for cancellation of documents. Under the new provisions, a party may approach the registration authorities for cancellation of fraudulent documents. Appeal can be provided to the IG-Registration and the State government, he noted.
Justice Suresh Kumar observed that if the amendments are given effect to, the parties can work out their remedy (seeking cancellation of registered documents over fraud). However, onus of proving whether a document was forged should lie on the parties challenging it. The judge observed that the issues, under consideration through the writ petitions, arose out of greed for wealth. One set of people want to achieve the desire (immovable property) in lawful means, by investing their lawful fortune they derived in their lifetime, but another set want to achieve such desire through fraudulent transactions, he observed.
Proceedings against 2 ministers quashed
The proceedings against Health Minister Ma Subramaniam and Rural Industries Minister TM Anbarasan, pending before the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs, were quashed by the Madras High Court. Justice M Nirmal Kumar issued the orders to quash the proceedings of a case on damage of public properties (a car) registered in 2005 during a byelection to a corporation ward in Chennai. The judge noted the charges were not proven and there seemed to be political animosity between the two ministers and the complainant. The case was pending without any progress for a long time
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