Registrar Can't Accept Deed Of Cancellation Which Seeks To Nullify A Deed Of Conveyance Which Has Already Been Acted Upon: Madras High Court (FB)

The court followed the dictum laid down in the case of Thota Ganga Laxmi and ors v. Government of Andhra Pradesh and the decision of the full bench of Madras High Court in Latif Estate Line India ltd v. Hadeeja Ammal and which has been followed in the recent decisions of the Supreme Court.

The bench thus held that a Sale Deed or a deed of conveyance (other than testamentary dispositions) that has been executed and registered could not be unilaterally canceled. Such unilateral cancellations are non-est in law and cannot operate to execute, assign, limit or extinguish any right, title or interest in the property, it held. The court also held that such unilateral cancellations could not be accepted for registration.

Unless the agreement is mutual, expressed in the recitals, the Registering Authority cannot accept the document for registration. However, the factual allegations with regard to the acceptance of gift or the issue where the gift was acted upon or not do not come under the purview of the Registering Officer. Hence, the Registering Officer is not excepted to accept the document unilaterally cancelling the gift deed, merely on the basis of the statement of the donor or the recitals in the document for cancellation.

With respect to the maintainability of challenge, the court observed that the transferee or any person claiming under him/her was well within the right to challenge or nullify the registration before the high court and need not approach the civil court. At the same time, the court also held that an absolute deed of sale or deed of conveyance that was duly executed by the transferor may be canceled by the Civil court at the instance of the transferor under Section 31 of the Specific Relief Act.

With respect to gift or settlement deed, the court observed that cancellation was permissible if the same was under Section 126 of the Transfer of Property Act. The court also emphasized that while registering revocation of such deeds, the registering authority should be satisfied that there is an agreement between the donor and the donee that the deed shall be suspended or revoked upon the happening of a specified event, that does not depend upon the will of the donor. Such an agreement should be mutual and expressive and seen from the document. Thus, the authority should not rely on self-serving statements or recitals in the cancellation deed.