The State Cabinet on Wednesday approved the proposal of the Revenue and Disaster Management department for amendment to the Registration Act, 1908 with a view to specifying the transactions of immovable properties which are opposed to public policy unless prior sanction for such transactions is issued by the competent authority.
The amendment approved by the Cabinet further empowers the registering officer not to register any document produced before him for registration unless the transferor produces the Record of Rights (RoR) to the satisfaction of the registering officer. The documents must satisfy that the transferor has the right, title and interest over the property so transferred.
The Cabinet meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, decided that prior sanction of competent authority will be required during transaction of five categories of immovable properties. The categories include: Properties belonging to the State Government or local authorities, religious institutions to which the Odisha Hindu Religious Endowment Act, 1951 is applicable, land donated for Bhoodan Yagna and vested in the Odisha Bhoodan Yagna Samiti established under Section 3 of the Odisha Bhoodan and Gramdan Act, 1970, properties which are under the superintendence of the Odisha Wakf Board, and properties recorded in the name of Lord Jagannath Mahaprabhu, Puri.
Amendment to the Registration Act was made in 2002 by inserting a new Section 22-A empowering the State Government to issue notification declaring any document or class of documents which are opposed to public policy and the registering officer was authorised to refuse such document.
The amendment was required following a judgment of the Supreme Court on a case similar to the provision of Section 22-A of the Act. A case filed in the Rajasthan High Court was subsequently challenged in the Supreme Court. The apex court held that essential functions of the Legislature cannot be delegated to the Executive. Only the ancillary and procedural powers can be delegated, the court said.
The amendment Act will be implemented prospectively, Chief Secretary J K Mohapatra told reporters after the meeting. The Supreme Court said any order passed by sub-registrar or registrar refusing to register a document pursuant to any notification issued under section 22-A of the Act will not be reopened.