The Jharkhand High Court has recently reiterated that in cases of registration of sale deeds, the registering authority cannot examine the nature of right, title, character of the deed's subject matter, if it is properly executed and does not have any legal or formal defects. 

Relying on a 2012 ruling of a coordinate bench in Dinesh Singh vs. The State of Jharkhand & Others, a single judge bench Justice Anil Kumar Choudhary said, "Under such circumstances, if the sale-deed is duly executed and sufficiently stamped and there is no legal or formal defect, this Court is of the considered view that the Registering Authority cannot refuse to register the deed if the same is presented for registration as the Registering Authority is debarred from examining the nature of right, title and character in respect of the subject matter of the sale-deed presented for registration". 

In the present case, the petitioner one Ajay Kumar Yadav along with four other persons had submitted a sale deed for registration to the District sub-registrar, Koderma  after fulfilling all necessary formalities stipulated by the Registration Act for transferring a plot of land to two purchasers. He argued that despite adhering to these formalities, the district sub-registrar refused to register the sale deed, pursuant to which Yadav moved the high court against the decision.

Yadav argued that, according to the Registration Act, registration of a sale deed can only be refused on certain grounds specified in Sections 71 and 74 of the Act. The refusal by the Registrar did not cite any of these statutory grounds, and was hence unsustainable in law, he added. Opposing the plea, the respondents contended that land the land in question is the property of the Jharkhand Government and the land is a "Gair Majarua Khas type of land" and is hence subject to "certain restrictions". 

For context, a Gair Mazarua Khas land refers to land which is not settled with Raiyats. A raiyat is a person who owns land for carrying out agriculture, and has acquired it as per the tenancy laws. 

The High Court found that the Revenue Officer had previously confirmed the land as Raiyati and issued mutation orders in favour of the Yadav's father who paid land revenue for a "considerable period of time". These orders remained unchallenged, the high court noted.

The court thereafter concluded that there was no valid basis for the district sub registrar's refusal. Disposing of the plea, the high court granted liberty to the petitioner to re-present the sale deed before the District Sub Registrar, Koderma. The high court further said that the registrar shall accept the sale deed for registration as per law, "if the document is duly presented". 

Case Title: Ajay Kumar Yadav V. The State of Jharkhand

LL Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Jha) 138

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