The Madras High Court has made it clear that the registration authorities cannot simply refuse to register a sale deed merely on the ground that it was objected to by a religious institution or a local body under section 22-A of the Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2008.
Section 22-A was inserted into the Act empowering Registrars to refuse to register sale, mortgage, exchange or lease of lands, if they belonged to the local authorities and religious institutions.
Though such power is given to the registration authorities, the request for registration cannot be summarily refused without holding proper inquiry after serving notice, a Division Bench of Justices S. Nagamuthu and Anita Sumanth has said.
The Bench passed the directions on a batch of petitions moved by land buyers after their sale or mortgage deeds were rejected by respective sub-registrars citing Section 22-A. In some cases, registered sale deeds were not returned.
“Such objections, if raised under Section 22-A of Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2008, the registering authority shall issue notice to parties concerned. He should apply his mind, and if there are enough materials to show that the land belongs to the religious institution, he shall refuse to register such deed,” the judges said.
The Bench added that the fact that there is no explicit provision in the Act for issuing such notice to the parties by the registering authority and to hold summary inquiry would not deprive the parties concerned to have sufficient opportunity in principles of natural justice, which is mandatory, as refusing to register a document results in civil consequences.
Noting that there is no provision in the Act empowering the authorities to refuse to return already registered deeds, the Bench directed the Registrars concerned to return the documents to the applicants.
