INTRODUCTION
Registration Act deals with the registration or non-registration of documents. All sorts of documents are not compulsorily registered in the Registration Act. The documents that are required under the Registration Act to be registered if they are not so registered, lose evidentiary value, and shall not be admitted in evidence.
RELEVANT PROVISIONS
Section 17 of the Registration Act 1908 describes all those documents registration is compulsory.
MEANING OF DOCUMENT
An instrument on which something is recorded, using letters, figures, or marks, the original, official, or legal form of something which may be evidentially used.
MEANING OF REGISTRATION
The term registration means enforcement of documents of immovable property under the Government stamp.
OBJECT OF REGISTRATION
The main object of the registration is the maintenance of the collection of the land revenue or to give security to the person concerned.
DOCUMENTS OF WHICH REGISTRATION IS COMPULSORY
Following are documents of which registration is compulsory.
1. INSTRUMENT OF GIFT
Instruments of the gift of immovable property are compulsorily registrable under the Registration Act.
- A hiba bil Iwaz must be registered under the Registration Act
2. NON-TESTAMENTARY INSTRUMENT
Other non-testamentary instruments which purport to operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title, or interest, whether vested or contingent of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property.
Non-testamentary Instrument: Every document which is not a will or codicil is called a non-testamentary instrument.
Registration of non-Testamentary Documents: According to Section 17(1)(b) such documents which extinguish any right or interest in present or future contingent or vested of the value of Rs. 100 or more than it must be registered.
3. INSTRUMENT RELATING TO RECEIPTS
Non-testamentary instruments are other than the acknowledgement of a receipt or payment made in respect of any transaction to which an instrument registered under clause (e) relates which acknowledged any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation, or extinction of any such right, title, or interest.
4. LEASE DEED
Lease of immovable property from year to year or for any term exceeding one year or reserving a rent.
Registration: According to Section 17 (1) (d) the registration of a lease is compulsory
5. INSTRUMENT RELATING TO DECREE AND ORDER
Non-testamentary instruments transferring or assigning any decree or order of the court or any award when such decree or order or award purports or operates to create declare, assign limit, or extinguish whether in present or in future, any right title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property.
6. ADOPTION
If the authorities of adoption executed before 1872 and not confirmed by will then its registration is compulsory.
7. ANY OTHER DOCUMENT WHICH IS REGISTERABLE UNDER ANY ACT:
If the document is registerable under any Act then its registration is compulsory under the registration Act.
8. VALUE OF DOCUMENT MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED:
The registration of the document is necessary if the value of the title is one hundred rupees or more.
9. MORTGAGE:
A mortgage document must be registered.
10. SALE:
If the value of the immovable property is more than one hundred rupees then in such circumstances the registration of the sale deed is compulsory.
11. EXCHANGE:
If the value of the immovable property is more than one hundred rupees then in such circumstances the registration of the exchange deed is compulsory.
12. PARTITION:
In the case of an instrument that causes the partition of the land then it must be registered.
13. CHARGE:
If writing creates any charge then it must be registered.
EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION
According to section 17 of the Registration Act, the following are the documents which are exempted from the registration
- Shares
- Debentures
- Saving certificates
- Sale certificates
- Endorsements
- Composition deed
EFFECT OF REGISTRATION
The effect of registration is that the documents can be enforced after registration. It also gets the evidentiary value.
EFFECT OF NON-REGISTRATION
If a document is required under the Registration Act to be registered and is not registered then in such circumstances, the document can not be enforced. It can not be used as evidence.
SCOPE
Section 17 enumerates the compulsorily registerable documents. The effect of non-registering a compulsorily registerable document is that it can not affect any immovable property.
DOCUMENT EXECUTED IN FOREIGN STATE
A document executed in a foreign state which is compulsorily registerable according to the law of the state and which is not so registered is not admissible evidence.
CONCLUSION
The Registrations Act illustrates the procedure of registering, what documentation should be registered, and how it should be done. It also explains the penalties and punishment for not following the procedure and not completing things on time.
Documents requiring registration under Section 17 of the Registration Act must be registered. This section establishes the necessity for the registration of certain classes of documents. Section 17 also says about the documents which are exempted from the registration.
FAQs
Which of the documents are compulsorily registerable? Is there any law for the re-registration of certain documents and documents executed by several persons at different times? Please explain with examples.
(2019-S)
What are the documents for which registration is compulsory?
(2018-S)
Section 17 of the Registration, Act 1908 requires some documents of which registration is compulsory. Discuss?
(2008-S)
