For registration of sale deed, prior documents not essential
The Registration Act, 1908 does not authorize the Registering Authority to deny registration of a transfer document on the ground that the seller’s title documents are not produced or that the seller’s title is unproven, says the Supreme Court (SC) in K. Gopi v The Sub-Registrar & Others [2025 INSC 462].
The registering officer is not concerned with the title held by the executant. He has no adjudicatory power to decide whether the executant has any title.
Even if the seller has no title registration office cannot deny
Even if an executant executes a sale deed or a lease in respect of a land in respect of which he has no title, the registering officer cannot refuse to register the document if all the procedural compliances are made and the necessary stamp duty as well as registration charges/fee are paid.
Sub-Registrar has not duty to verify the title
Under Registration Act, 1908, it is not the function of the Sub-Registrar or Registering Authority to ascertain whether the vendor has title to the property which he is seeking to transfer.
Parties to be present and they should admit execution
Once the registering authority is satisfied that the parties to the document are present before him and the parties admit execution thereof before him, subject to making procedural compliances as narrated above, the document must be registered.
What the seller has, alone get transferred
The execution and registration of a document have the effect of transferring only those rights, if any, that the executant possesses. If the executant has no right, title, or interest in the property, the registered document cannot effect any transfer.
Reference
- K. Gopi v The Sub-Registrar & Others [2025 INSC 462]
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