CHENNAI: Ruling against district registrars cancelling sale deeds on complaints of fraud, a division bench of the Madras High Court said that such powers are conferred only on the civil courts.
Hearing an appeal petition in connection with the cancellation of a deed by a district registrar in the Union Territory of Puducherry, a division bench of Justices SM Subramaniam and K Surender recently pointed out that the constitutional courts have repeatedly held that the registering authority is not empowered to go into the civil rights of the parties. Only the competent civil court is rather empowered to declare civil rights, the bench added.
If the district registrar declares a document as fraudulent by merely conducting summary proceedings, it would infringe upon the civil rights of the parties regarding the properties, which is a constitutional right, the bench further stated.
Referring to the case in hand, the bench held that the district registrar ought not to have passed the orders as the matter was already pending in a civil court.
"When the district registrar has no power to adjudicate the civil rights of the parties, he ought not to have cancelled the sale deed. Such a power has been conferred only on the civil court and such declarations cannot be given based on summary proceedings," the bench stated.
Further, observing that the single judge had proceeded on the facts of alleged fraud which cannot be adjudicated in a proceeding writ case, the bench set aside the former’s orders.
The matter pertains to the cancellation of three sale deeds under Section 68 (2) of the Registration Act by the district registrar of Puducherry based on the complaints submitted by Mohanasundaram and others who are the respondents in the writ appeal.
Challenging the cancellation, the appeal petitioners, Gurumurthi and Sangeetha, filed a writ petition in the Madras HC which was dismissed. Subsequently, they filed the appeal before the division bench.