CHENNAI: People who need to register ancestral properties but unable to do so without original documents have a reason to cheer now. The Commercial Taxes and Registration Department has amended the registration rules under Registration Act 1908 by inserting Section 55A, which stipulates rules for registration of documents provided the sale deed is lost or ancestral document is untraceable.
The State government had earlier passed a circular in this regard and it has been made a legal statute now after including it in the Tamil Nadu government Gazette.Under the amendment, if a previous original deed is lost, the registering officer shall register it only on producing a non-traceable Certificate issued by the police, along with an advertisement published in the local newspaper as to the notice of loss of the previous original deed.
Similarly, if the previous original deed is not available as the property is an ancestral one, the registering officer shall not register such document, unless any revenue record is produced evidencing the applicant’s right over the subject property such as patta copy issued by Revenue Department or tax receipt.
The amendment to the property registration rules in Tamil Nadu also states that producing the previous original deed shall not be necessary where the government or a statutory body is the executant of the document or for such class of documents as may be notified by the Inspector General of Registration, from time to time.
The amended rule states that the registering officer after being satisfied that the description of the property contained in the document presented for registration conforms with the description of the property found in the previous original deed provided under this rule, they shall inscribe the word ‘verified’ on a conspicuous portion of the first page of such title deed and affix his signature with date and thereafter cause scanning of the page containing such inscription as a reference document.
In case revenue records are produced under this rule, the same shall be scanned as the main document and where non-traceable certificates and the advertisement published in the local newspaper are submitted by the applicant, they shall be scanned as reference documents.
In case, an encumbrance as to mortgage, orders on the attachment of property, sale agreement or lease agreement exist over the property, the registering officer shall not register such document if the time limit for filing of the suit has not lapsed or No Objection Certificate is not granted by the appropriate authority or raising of the attachment is not done.
A relief to many
The new clause stipulates rules for registration of documents provided the sale deed is lost or ancestral document is untraceable