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[Cites 29, Cited by 0]

Madras High Court

G.Anbumani vs G.Gopalarathinam on 16 April, 2024

Author: N. Sathish Kumar

Bench: N. Sathish Kumar

                                                                                   WP.No.35302 of 2019

                                  IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

                                                    DATED : 16.04.2024

                                                         CORAM

                             THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE N. SATHISH KUMAR

                                                  WP.No.35302 of 2019
                                        and W.M.P.No.36107 of 2019 & 500 of 2024

                  1.G.Anbumani
                  2.D.Rajamanickam                                                    .. Petitioners

                                                          Versus

                  1.G.Gopalarathinam
                  2.G.Santhanam
                  3.K.Kalyani

                  4.The Sub Registrar
                  Neelankarai
                  Chennai – 600 041

                  5.The District Registrar (Administration)
                  Assistant Registrar of Registration Department
                  SIDCO Industrial Estate, Electronic Complex
                  Third Block, Second Floor
                  Guindy, Chennai – 600 032                                        .. Respondents

                  Prayer: Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India
                  praying to issue a Writ of Certiorari, calling for the records leading to passing
                  of the impugned order passed by the 6th respondent dated 17.10.2019 in
                  Na.Ka.No.979/E2/2019 and quash the same.

                                  For Petitioner     : M/s.Ramya
                                  For Respondents    : Mr.T.S.Vijaya Raghavan for R1 to R4
                                                       Mr.B.Vijay
                                                       Additional Government Pleader
                                                       Mr.T.S.Baskaran for R5 & R6
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis                         ORDER

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                            This writ petition is filed challenging the Order passed by the sixth

                  respondent cancelling the General Power of Attorney dated 03.12.2004 and the

                  subsequent sale deed dated 18.03.2010.



                            2. The impugned order is passed mainly on the ground that there are

                  discrepancies in the documents and instead of referring the layout in the

                  General Power of Attorney, the same has not been shown in the General Power

                  of Attorney. Hence, the General Power of Attorney and the subsequent sale

                  deed were annulled by the sixth respondent on the ground that the documents

                  have been executed fraudulently.



                            3. The learned counsel for the respondents 1 to 4 vehemently submitted

                  that order passed by the sixth respondent is proper and the writ petitioners have

                  not appeared before the registering authorities despite the notice being sent to

                  them.



                            4. Heard both sides and perused the materials placed on record.




                            5. Once the registering authorities had cancelled the registered document
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                  holding that these documents are fraudulent transactions, this Court is of the

                  view that such order cannot be sustained in the eye of law.



                            6. It is relevant to point out that in W.P.No.29706 of 2022, I had an

                  occasion to deal with the power of Registrar in cancelling documents. Order in

                  the writ petition is as follows:

                            “... 3. It is relevant to note that the object of the law of
                            registration is to provide public notice of the transaction
                            embodied therein. The execution of documents and its validity, the
                            right created or extinguished is governed by the substantive law
                            namely the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. The provisions
                            contained in the Registration Act, 1908 relates to the factum of
                            registration alone. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of
                            State of Rajasthan v. Basant Nahata, (2005) 12 SCC 77 has held
                            as follows:

                            “The Act only strikes at the documents and not at the
                            transactions. The whole aim of the Act is to govern documents
                            and not the transactions embodied therein. Thereby only the
                            notice of the public is drawn.”


                                   4. The practice has been developed in the recent past in
                            Tamil Nadu to entertain the applications given by the so-called
                            affected parties to cancel all the documents under the pretext of
                            either forgery or fradulent transactions. The Inspector General of
                            Registration, Government of Tamil Nadu has brought out
                            Circular No.67 dated 03.11.20211 to deal with the fraudulent
                            registrations through impersonation. The said circular is mainly
                            based on the judgment of the Full Bench of the Andhra Pradesh
                            High Court in the case of YanalaMalleshwari v.
                            AnanthulaSayamma, reported in AIR 2007 AP 57. However, the
                            three bench of Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of Satya Pal Anand
                            v. State of M.P., reported in (2016) 10 SCC 767 has held that the
                            power of the Registrar, under the Registration Act, is purely
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                    administrative and not quasi-judicial. The same is extracted
                    hereunder:
                    “34. The role of the Sub-Registrar (Registration) stands
                    discharged, once the document is registered (see Raja Mohammad
                    Amir Ahmad Khan [State of U.P. v. Raja Mohammad Amir Ahmad
                    Khan, AIR 1961 SC 787] ). Section 17 of the 1908 Act deals with
                    documents which require compulsory registration. Extinguishment
                    deed is one such document referred to in Section 17(1)(b). Section
                    18 of the same Act deals with documents, registration whereof is
                    optional. Section 20 of the Act deals with documents containing
                    interlineations, blanks, erasures or alterations. Section 21
                    provides for description of property and maps or plans and
                    Section 22 deals with the description of houses and land by
                    reference to government maps and surveys. There is no express
                    provision in the 1908 Act which empowers the Registrar to recall
                    such registration. The fact whether the document was properly
                    presented for registration cannot be reopened by the Registrar
                    after its registration. The power to cancel the registration is a
                    substantive matter. In absence of any express provision in that
                    behalf, it is not open to assume that the Sub-Registrar
                    (Registration) would be competent to cancel the registration of
                    the documents in question. Similarly, the power of the Inspector
                    General is limited to do superintendence of Registration Offices
                    and make rules in that behalf. Even the Inspector General has
                    no power to cancel the registration of any document which has
                    already been registered.”


                           5. In fact, the Hon'ble Apex Court has held that and in the
                    absence of any express power to cancel the registered document,
                    the Registrar has no power to cancel the document. Section 68(2)
                    of the Registration Act, 1908 relied upon by the Registration
                    Department to substantiate the circular in this regard, when
                    carefully seen. Section 68(2) of the Registration Act, 1908 reads
                    as follows:


                    “68. Power of Registration to superintend and control Sub
                    Registrars.
                            (1) every Sub Registrar perform the duties of his office under the
                            superintendence and control of the Registrar in whose district the
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                   office of such Sub Registrar is situate.
                   (2) Every Registrar shall have authority to issue (Whether on
                   complaint or otherwise) any order consistent with this Act which
                   he considers necessary in respect of any act or omission of any
                   Sub Registrar subordinate to him or in respect of the rectification
                   of any error regarding the book or the office in which any
                   document has been registered.”


                          6. The above provision makes it clear that the said section
                   confers power upon the Registrar to supervise and control all the
                   acts of the Sub-Registar. Sub-Section 2 empowers the Registrar to
                   issue any order consistent with the Act, which he considers
                   necessary in respect of any act or omission of any Sub-Registrar
                   subordinate to him. Similarly, the Registrar shall also have power
                   in respect of the rectification of any error regarding the book or
                   the office in which any document has been registered. The above
                   power empowering the Registar to issue any order is a power of
                   superitendence and supervision and not a power vested to cancel
                   the registration of the document. Therefore, relying upon Section
                   68(2) of the Registration Act, 1908 and issuing such circular
                   cannot be valid in the eye of law. Unless a specific power and
                   express provision is made in the Act empowering the Registrar to
                   cancel the document, such powers cannot be conferred by the
                   Inspector General of Registration by taking aid of 68(2) of the
                   Registration Act, 1908.


                          7. The Division Bench of this Court in the case of N.
                   Ramayee v Sub-Registrar reported in (2020)6 CTC 697, wherein
                   it has held as follows:
                   “21.In Satya Pal Anand v. State of M.P., 2017 (1) CTC 414 (SC):
                   2016 (10) SCC 767, the Honourable Apex Court has held that the
                   role of Sub-Registrar (Registration) stands discharged, once the
                   document is registered. Power to cancel the registration is a
                   substantive matter.”


                                  8. The said judgment has been confirmed by the Hon'ble
                            Supreme Court in SLP (Civil) 4844 of 2021. In view of the above
                            dictum laid by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Satya Pal
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                            Anand v. State of M.P., reported in (2016) 10 SCC 767 and the
                            Division Bench of this Court in the case of N. Ramayee v Sub-
                            Registrar reported in (2020)6 CTC 697, this Court is of the view
                            that unless substantive provisions is made in the statute merely on
                            the basis of circular orders, the cancellation of the registered
                            document cannot be done by the Registrar merely on the
                            complaints alleging fraudulent transactions etc.,
                                  9. It is also brought to the notice of this Court that the
                            Circular No.67 dated 03.11.2011 was withdrawn by issuing
                            another circular dated 20.10.2017 in Letter No.41530/U1/2017.
                            Thereafter, another circular dated 08.11.2017 was issued by the
                            Inspector General of Registration, Chennai to cancel the
                            fraudulent registration. In the said circular, it was made clear that
                            the District Registrar cannot decide the title. The said circular
                            also says that summary procedure to be followed while
                            conducting enquiry and pass an order.


                                  10. Subsequently, on 09.04.2018, 31.07.2018 and
                            09.11.2018, circulars were issued empowering the Registrar to
                            conduct an enquiry and make an entry in Book I, if the document
                            was found to be fraudulent.


                                   11. It is relevant to note these circulars are mostly issued
                            under Section 68(2) of the Registration Act, 1908. As alredy held
                            that the powers conferred under Registration Act in Section 68(2)
                            is only superentindence and control over the subordinates. Having
                            such superentindence control, circular could not have been issued
                            to hold an enquiry particularly in respect of alleged fraudulent
                            transactions. It is easy for anyone to allege the transaction is a
                            fraudulent transaction. But fraud has to be proved in the manner
                            known to law. Fraudulent transaction and fraud have to be proved
                            in a manner known to law. Only transaction falls within the
                            category of fraud as defined under Section 17 of the Contract Act.
                            Such transaction could be held as result of fraud.


                                  12. That apart various presumption of fact and law
                            declared to be relevant under Indian Evidence Act, 1872 has to be
                            taken note of. Therefore, without a proper trial particularly before
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                            the Civil Court merely on the basis of some allegations of
                            fraudulent transactions, a document cannot be annulled by the
                            District Registrar by mere so-called summary procedure. The
                            fraudulent transaction is never defined under the Registration Act,
                            only forged document is defined under Section 2(5-A). The forged
                            document shall have the same meaning assigned under 470 of
                            IPC, 1860. There is no definition of fraudulent transaction. The
                            word “fraudulently” is defined under IPC. A person is said to do
                            a thing fraudulently, if he does that thing with intent to defraud
                            but not otherwise.


                                   13. The fraudulent transfer is defined under Section 53 of
                            the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, which reads as follows:
                            “53. Fraudulent transfer.—(1) Every transfer of immoveable
                            property made with intent to defeat or delay the creditors of the
                            transferor shall be voidable at the option of any creditor so
                            defeated or delayed.
                            Nothing in this sub-section shall impair the rights of a transferee
                            in good faith and for consideration.
                            Nothing in this sub-section shall affect any law for the time being
                            in force relating to insolvency.
                            A suit instituted by a creditor (which term includes a decree
                            -holder whether he has or has not applied for execution of his
                            decree) to avoid a transfer on the ground that it has been made
                            with intent to defeat or delay the creditors of the transferor, shall
                            be instituted on behalf of, or for the benefit of, all the creditors.
                            (2) Every transfer of immoveable property made without
                            consideration with intent to defraud a subsequent transferee shall
                            be voidable at the option of such transferee.
                            For the purposes of this sub-section, no transfer made without
                            consideration shall be deemed to have been made with intent to
                            defraud by reason only that a subsequent transfer for
                            consideration was made.”


                                  14. The said fradulent transfer is also voidable, at the most,
                            such transfer has to be avoided within a period of limitation.
                            Therefore, merely on the circular orders, the Registrar of District
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                            Registrar cannot assume the jurisdiction of the Civil Court. The
                            word “fraud” is defined under Section 17 of the Contract Act,
                            which would read as follows:
                            “17. “Fraud” defined.—“Fraud” means and includes any of the
                            following acts committed by a party to a contract, or with his
                            connivance, or by his agent , with intent to deceive another party
                            thereto of his agent, or to induce him to enter into the contract:-
                            (1) the suggestion, as a fact, of that which is not true, by one who
                            does not believe it to be true;
                            (2) the active concealment of a fact by one having knowledge or
                            belief of the fact;
                            (3) a promise made without any intention of performing it;
                            (4) any other act fitted to deceive;
                                   (5) any such act or omission as the law specially declares
                            to be fraudulent.”


                                   15. Therefore, unless the documents fall within the ambit of
                            fraud, such document cannot be cancelled by mere complaint
                            before the Sub-Registrar. It is also be noted that the fraud at the
                            most renders the transaction voidable not void. Any such
                            document result of fraud must be challenged within a period of
                            Limiation Act. Now, the practice has been followed to annul the
                            document, several documents registered 20, 30 years back were
                            sought to be annulled and cancelled alleging that it has been
                            obtained fraudulently or that has been forged. It is relevant to
                            note that fraud and forgery or not the one and same. The word
                            'forgery' is defined under Section 463 of IPC, which reads as
                            follows:
                            “463. Forgery.—Whoever makes any false document or false
                            electronic record or part of a document or electronic record, with
                            intent to cause damage or injury], to the public or to any person,
                            or to support any claim or title, or to cause any person to part
                            with property, or to enter into any express or implied contract, or
                            with intent to commit fraud or that fraud may be committed,
                            commits forgery.”


https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis   16. Thus, the essence of the offence of forgery is the making

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                    of a false document. As to what constitutes a false document is
                    explained in Section 464 IPC which reads as follows:
                    “A person is said to make a false document or false
                    electronicrecord:
                    First.—Who dishonestly or fraudulently—
                    (a) makes, signs, seals or executes a document or part of a
                    document;
                    (b) makes or transmits any electronic record or part of any
                    electronic record;
                    (c) affixes any electronic signature on any electronic record;
                    (d) makes any mark denoting the execution of a document or the
                    authenticity of theelectronic signature, with the intention of
                    causing it to be believed that such document or part of a
                    document, electronicrecord or electronic signature was made,
                    signed, sealed, executed, transmitted or affixed by or by
                    theauthority of a person by whom or by whose authority he knows
                    that it was not made, signed, sealed,executed or affixed; or
                    Secondly.—Who without lawful authority, dishonestly or
                    fraudulently, by cancellation or otherwise, alters a document or
                    anelectronic record in any material part thereof, after it has been
                    made, executed or affixed with electronic signatureeither
                    byhimself or by any other person, whether such person be living
                    or dead at the time of such alteration; or
                    Thirdly.—Who dishonestly or fraudulently causes any person to
                    sign, seal, execute or alter a document or an electronicrecord or
                    to affix his electronic signature on any electronic record knowing
                    that such person by reason of unsoundness of mindor intoxication
                    cannot, or that by reason of deception practised upon him, he
                    does not know the contents of the document orelectronic record or
                    the nature of the alteration.”


                          17. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Mohd.
                    Ibrahim v. State of Bihar, reported in (2009) 8 SCC 751 has held
                    as under:
                            “There is a fundamental difference between a person executing a
                            sale deed claiming that the property conveyed is his property, and
                            a person executing a sale deed by impersonating the owner or
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                    falsely claiming to be authorised or empowered by the owner, to
                    execute the deed on owner's behalf. When a person executes a
                    document conveying a property describing it as his, there are two
                    possibilities. The first is that he bona fide believes that the
                    property actually belongs to him. The second is that he may be
                    dishonestly or fraudulently claiming it to be his even though he
                    knows that it is not his property. But to fall under first category of
                    “false documents”, it is not sufficient that a document has been
                    made or executed dishonestly or fraudulently. There is a further
                    requirement that it should have been made with the intention of
                    causing it to be believed that such document was made or
                    executed by, or by the authority of a person, by whom or by whose
                    authority he knows that it was not made or executed.
                    When a document is executed by a person claiming a property
                    which is not his, he is not claiming that he is someone else nor is
                    he claiming that he is authorised by someone else. Therefore,
                    execution of such document (purporting to convey some property
                    of which he is not the owner) is not execution of a false document
                    as defined under Section 464 of the Code. If what is executed is
                    not a false document, there is no forgery. If there is no forgery,
                    then neither Section 467 nor Section 471 of the Code are
                    attracted.”


                           18. Therefore, from the above dictum it makes it clear that
                    unless the document in question comes within the category of a
                    false document as defined in Section 464 of the IPC, there cannot
                    be a case of forgery, and the same cannot be cancelled.


                          19. Similarly, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of
                    Indian Bank v. Satyam Fibres (India) (P) Ltd., reported in (1996)
                    5 SCC 550, while considering the doctrine of fraud on the Court,
                    the Supreme Court has observed as under:
                    “30. Forgery and fraud are essentially matters of evidence which
                    could be proved as a fact by direct evidence or by inferences
                    drawn from proved facts.”


                                 20. The power to make an enquiry with regard to any
                            document is available to the Registrar under Sections 73 & 74 of
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                    the Registration Act, 1908 to find out the document is executed.
                    Such power to conduct an enquiry and record evidence under
                    Section 74 is available only to determine (a) whether the
                    document has been executed; (b) whether the requirements of the
                    law for the time being in force have been complied with on the
                    part of the applicant or person presenting the document for
                    registration, as the case may be, to entitle the document to
                    registration. In other words, the Registrar can see whether the
                    document complies with the requirements of Section 34 or if it
                    suffers from any of the procedural infirmities in Section 19-22 or
                    is hit by any of the grounds in Section 22-A or 22-B of the Act.


                           21. Similarly, the Division Bench of this Court in the case
                    of Park View Enterprises v State Government of Tamil Nadu,
                    reported in AIR 1990 Mad 251 held that the Sub-Registrar
                    performs only executive functions under the Act. In other words,
                    he is not a quasi-judicial authority deciding a lis. This view has
                    also been upheld by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of
                    Satya Pal Anand v. State of M.P., reported in (2016) 10 SCC 767.
                    Similarly, the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Horil v.
                    Keshav, reported in (2012) 5 SCC 525, has held that the Revenue
                    Courts are neither equipped nor competent to effectively
                    adjudicate on allegations of fraud that have overtones of
                    criminality and the courts really skilled and experienced to try
                    such issues are the courts constituted under the Code of Civil
                    Procedure.


                          22. From the above discussions, this Court is of the view
                    that merely on the basis of allegations of fraudulent transactions,
                    the Registrars have no power to cancel any document. It is also
                    relevant to note that Section 22-A was introduced vide T.N
                    Amendment Act 2 of 2009 with effect from 20.10.2016
                    empowering the Registrar to refuse registration on certain
                    grounds. Section 22-A reads as follows:
                    “ 22-A. Refusal to register certain documents .—Notwithstanding
                    anything contained in this Act, the registering officer shall refuse
                    to register any of the following documents, namely:—
                            (1) instrument relating to the transfer of immovable properties by
                            way of sale, gift, mortgage, exchange or lease,—
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                     (i) belonging to the State Government or the local authority or
                     Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority established under
                     section 9-A of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act,
                     1971;
                     (ii) belonging to, or given or endowed for the purpose of, any
                     religious institution to which the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and
                     Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 is applicable;
                     (iii) donated for Bhoodan Yagna and vested in the Tamil Nadu
                     State Bhoodan Yagna Board established under section 3 of the
                     Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1958; or
                     (iv) of Wakfs which are under the superintendence of the Tamil
                     Nadu Wakf Board established under the Wakf Act, 1995, unless a
                     sanction in this regard issued by the competent authority as
                     provided under the relevant Act or in the absence of any such
                     authority, an authority so authorised by the State Government for
                     this purpose, is produced before the registering officer;
                     (2) instrument relating to the transfer of ownership of lands
                     converted as house sites without the permission for development
                     of such land from planning authority concerned: Provided that the
                     house sites without such permission may be registered if it is
                     shown that the same house site has been previously registered as
                     house site.


                     Explanation I.—For the purpose of this section ‘local authority’
                     means,—
                     (i) any Municipal Corporation constituted under any law for the
                     time being in force; or
                     (ii) a Municipal Council constituted under the Tamil Nadu
                     District Municipalities Act, 1920 ; or
                     (iii) a Panchayat Union Council or a Village Panchayat
                     constituted under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 ; or
                     (iv) any other Municipal Corporation, that may be constituted
                     under any law for the time being in force.
                            Explanation II.—For the purpose of this section ‘planning
                            authority’ means the authority constituted under section 11 of, and
                            includes the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority
                            established under section 9-A of the Tamil Nadu Town and
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                     Country Planning Act, 1971;
                     (3) instrument relating to cancellation of sale deeds without the
                     consent of the person claiming under the said sale deed.”


                            23. On careful perusal of the above section makes it clear
                     that the scope of enquiry of the Registrar while making
                     registration is limited. The Sub-Registrar must have some
                     material to show that the lands belonged to the temple or wakf or
                     Government or there was no permission for development of such
                     land from planning authorities and the land has been coverted as
                     house site. If there is a serious dispute on the title to the land,
                     such questions cannot be decided by the Registrar at the stage of
                     registering a document since he is only conducting a limited
                     summary enquiry.


                           24. The Division Bench of this Court in the case of Sudha
                     Ravi Kumar v. Special Commissioner & Commissioner, Hindu
                     Religious and Charitable Endowments Department, reported in
                     2017 (3) CTC 135 (DB) has held as follows:


                     "7. A perusal of Section 22-A of the Act would make it crystal
                     clear that it is Mandatory on the part of the Registering Authority
                     to refuse to register any document of sale, transfer, gift, Mortgage,
                     exchange or lease in respect of any property belonging to or given
                     or endowed for the purpose of any Religious Institution governed
                     by TN HR & CE Act. But at the same time, in order to satisfy
                     himself that the property belongs to or given or endowed for the
                     purpose of any Religious Institution, he should have some
                     material before him which can be obtained by holding a Summary
                     Enquiry."


                                   25. Similarly, the Division Bench of this Court in
                            W.A.Nos.260 & 261 of 2023 by order dated in 07.06.2023 in the
                            case of P. Jagannathan v Inspector General of Registration has
                            held that the power to cancel a document for violation of Section
                            22-A can be resorted to only if the title of the temple is admitted.
                            In other words, where the title of the temple is disputed parties
                            must necessarily be relegated to the civil court, and the Sub-
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                    Registrar cannot refuse to register the document on that ground
                    since the rights of parties will have to be decided only by the civil
                    court.


                           26. Further, the State of Tamil Nadu introduced the
                    Registration (T.N Second Amendment) Act (Act 41 of 2022) with
                    effect from 16.08.2022. The Act introduced Section 22-B into the
                    Registration Act and reads as follows:
                    “22-B. Refusal to register forged documents and other
                    documents prohibited by law.— Notwithstanding anything
                    contained in this Act, the registering officer shall refuse to register
                    the following documents, namely:—
                    (1) forged document;
                    (2) document relating to transaction, which is prohibited by any
                    Central Act or State Act for the time being in force;
                    (3) document relating to transfer of immovable property by way of
                    sale, gift, lease or otherwise, which is attached permanently or
                    provisionally by a competent authority under any Central Act or
                    State Act for the time being in force or any Court or Tribunal;
                     (4) any other document as the State Government may, by
                    notification, specify.”
                           27. Whether the power under Section 77-A would apply to
                    the documents registered before its introduction ie., from
                    16.08.2022 has been dealt with by a Division Bench of this Court
                    in Netvantage Technologies Pvt. Ltd v Inspector General of
                    Registration, reported in 2024 SCC OnLine Mad 567, wherein it
                    is held as follows:
                            “In respect of other documents registered prior to the amendment,
                            one has to understand that those documents are to be dealt in
                            accordance with the law prevailing at the time of registration by
                            approaching the Civil Court of law. When all those documents
                            registered prior to the amendment of the year 2022 are subjected
                            to Section 77-A of the Act, then this Court is afraid that an
                            anomalous situation would be created by approaching the District
                            Registrar for the purpose of adjudication of disputed issues with
                            reference to those documents registered several years back. The
                            amendment effected from 16.08.2022 has not intended to do so
                            nor the provision expressly provides any such retrospective
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                            application. Prior to amendment, Section 22-A and Section 22-B
                            was not in force. Thus, Section 77-A cannot have retrospective
                            effect. In other words, Section 77-A must be read in conjunction
                            with Section 22-A and Section 22-B of the Act. Insertion of all
                            these three Sections are to be understood holistically to avoid any
                            inorderliness.”


                                   28. In view of the above judgment of the Division Bench of
                            this Court, Section 77-A cannot be applied retrospectively and can
                            be applied only after the same is brought as a statute.


                                    29. Therefore, this Court is of the view that unless the
                            forgery is conclusively established merely on the basis of
                            allegations of forgery, as a matter of right, a document cannot be
                            cancelled. The forgery and fraud are essentially a matter of
                            evidence which shall be proved as per law. Therefore, unless there
                            is a strong evidence of impersonation or forgery, i.e., a creation of
                            false record as defined under the Indian Penal Code, merely on
                            the basis of allegations such documents cannot be cancelled.
                            Section 22-B relates to forged instrument not a fraudulent
                            transaction.”
                            7. At this stage, the learned counsel for the respondents 1 to 4 submitted

                  that civil suits are pending between the parties. Such view of the matter, it is

                  for the parties to establish their substantial rights in the civil suit in the manner

                  known to law. The order of this Court in this writ petition will not stand in the

                  way of Civil Court to decide the matter on its own merits.



                            8. Accordingly, the impugned order passed by the sixth respondent in

                  Na.Ka.No.979/E2/2019 dated 17.10.2019 is set aside and this writ petition

                  stands allowed. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petitions are closed.
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis


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                                                                   WP.No.35302 of 2019

                  No costs.



                                                                        16.04.2024

                  dhk
                  Index                 :Yes/No
                  Internet              :Yes/No
                  Neutral Citation      : Yes/No




                  To,

                  1.The Sub Registrar
                  Neelankarai
                  Chennai – 600 041

                  2.The District Registrar (Administration)
                  Assistant Registrar of Registration Department
                  SIDCO Industrial Estate, Electronic Complex
                  Third Block, Second Floor
                  Guindy, Chennai – 600 032



https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis


                  16/18
                                          WP.No.35302 of 2019




                                  N. SATHISH KUMAR, J.

dhk W.P.No.35302 of 2019 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 17/18 WP.No.35302 of 2019 16.04.2024 https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis 18/18