MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday struck down the newly introduced Section 34-C of the Tamil Nadu Registration (Amendment) Act, 2025 (power to registration authority to prevent the registration if original document is not produced for the purchase of property) by stating that the role of authority is purely ministerial and administrative in nature and questions relating to the title can be adjudicated only by a competent civil court.
A division bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and M Jothiraman gave the order while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the amendment stating it was nothing but a re-packaged version of the provisions that have already been held invalid. Even if we assume that the objective is to prevent fraudulent registrations, the amendment affects genuine transactions and imposes burden far beyond what is necessary, the petitioners claimed.
The court also stated that the effect of the provisions of Section 34-C directly interferes with several provisions of the Transfer of Property Act. The amendment also effectively empowers the Registering Authority to examine and decide issues relating to title.
“How can the sub-registrar performing a ministerial function, assume the role of determining and safeguarding the character of the property? The registering authority is not vested with any adjudicatory power to determine questions relating to title,” the court said.
Saying that it is necessary to ensure that any person intending to deal with the property is put on notice of any existing or prior encumbrances on the property, the court directed the Inspector General of Registration to prepare and publish a comprehensive list of encumbrances in Book I, indexed survey number wise and door number-wise.
This exercise shall be undertaken forthwith in all sub-registrar offices across the state and shall be completed in a phased manner within a stipulated time frame, the bench said.
The court also said the requirement of producing the original document may lead to unintended consequences.