Is document registration compulsory?

Registration of a document gives validity and authenticity to the document. There are many advantages of registering a document. In India a document can be registered under the Registration Act, 1908. Many times it becomes compulsory to register a document to complete the transaction. Then question arises that whether it is compulsory to register all documents? In this article we will look at the documents which need to be registered compulsorily with the help of a few cases

What is registration?

Registration of a document is a process of recording the documents by an authoritative officer to give validity and authenticity to a document.

How to register a document under the Registration Act, 1908?

Under this Act you can register a document at the office of the sub registrar of the sub district. If document is related to the land you can register document at the office of sub registrar of sub district under whose jurisdiction land is located as per section 28. of this Act. You can also register the documents in the Sub-Register Office where the document has been executed as per Section 29 of the Act.

A person who is presenting the document needs to pay the required fee for the registration of document.

Importance of document registration

Registration of a document gives validity and authenticity to the document. Apart from this, some documents have to be registered compulsorily under the Act. Why is it important? A registered document can be produced as a valid evidence in Court as it is authorised by the office of the Government.

Provision under the Registration Act

In the Registration Act, 1908 the registration of document has been categorized into two: Documents that have to be registered compulsorily and the documents which can be registered optionally. Section 17 of the Act deals with compulsory registration and section 18 deals with optional registration.

Section 17 : Documents which are compulsory to be registered

The following is list of documents which need to be registered:

1. Document of gift deed of immovable property: Section 17 1(a) makes compulsory to register gift deed of the immovable property.
2. Documents that create some kind of interest in the immovable property having value above one hundred rupees: Section 17 (1) (b) states that it is compulsory to register a instrument related to the creation of some kind of interest in immovable property in present or in future having value above rupees one hundred.
3. Document of lease of immovable property on yearly basis: Section 17 (1) (c) and (d) of the Registration Act
4. Documents related to contracts of transfer of immovable property: It is compulsory under Section 17 (1A).
5. Documents related to shares in the joint stock company: It has mentioned in Section 17 (2) (ii) and (iii).
6. Any decree or order of Court: Section 17 (2) (vi) make it compulsory to register.
7. Documents related to grant of immovable property by Government: under Section 17(2) (vii)
8. Documents related to grant of loan: under Section 17 (2) (ix) and (x) makes compulsory to register documents related to grant of loan.
9. Documents of mortgage deed for loan in part or whole: Section 17 (2) (xi) makes it compulsory.
10. Documents related to adoption: under Section 17 (3) makes it compulsory to register documents related to adaption.

Documents falling under Optional Registration

Under Section 18 of the Registration Act, 1908 it is not compulsory to register a document but you can register a document if you want to. Following is the list of some documents.

1. Documents creating some kind of interest in the immovable property having value below one hundred rupees.
2. Receipts or documents related to payment of the consideration for creating interest in such immovable property where the value is less than Rs. 100.
3. Documents of lease agreement less than one year and which do not come under section 17.
4. Will and also different documents which are not mentioned under Section 17.

Case laws

1. Narinder Singh Rao vs Avm Mahinder Singh Rao & Ors on 22 March, 2013[i].

In this case Supreme Court held that, a will has to be attested by two witnesses to be valid and if it involves the transfer of property, it must be registered.

• Suraj Lamp and Industries Pvt. Ltd. Vs State of Haryana and Another[ii].

In this case Court held that, a general power of attorney cannot be used to transfer of property. Also Court stated that, the Registration Act, 1908, was enacted with the intention of providing orderliness, discipline and public notice with regard to transactions relating to immovable property and protection from fraud and forgery of documents of transfer.

Conclusion

In this article we discussed on whether it is compulsory to register all documents through the relevant provisions of the Registration Act, 1908. Also, we discussed some case laws related to this. There are two categories: On one hand comes the compulsory registration and on other Optional Registration. But it is suggested that any document will serve its purpose if it is registered as its validity and authenticity cannot be questioned at later point of time.

“The views of the authors are personal“

Reference:

[i] https://indiankanoon.org/doc/141466740/.

[ii] AIR 2012 SC 206.