Amend The Registration Act: Hc

Amend The Registration Act: HC 14 Jan 2009, 0535 hrs IST, TNN HYDERABAD: Vexed with the unending saga of litigation emanating from bogus registrations of properties, Justice N V Ramana of the AP High Court has said that it is the bounden duty of the state government to amend the Registration Act, 1908, to protect the interests of the purchasers from the evil intention of the sellers who are resorting to multi sale and registrations. The Judge while dismissing a petition filed by two minors, Tirumala Venkata Reddaiah Chowdary and another who sought the prevention of their father's property being transferred to a third person, however, made it clear in his recent judgment that under the present scheme of things, he cannot direct the sub registrar (of Gunadala in Vijayawada) not to register the property because there is no such provision in the Act that empowers a sub registrar to refuse to register a title when documents are produced before him for registration. The drafters of this law did not foresee the kind of disputes that are now arising while drafting this law 100 years ago, Justice Ramana said. "This court is not a law making institution and hence cannot make a law curbing such frauds", he said. It is the legislature that has to make laws and is also vested with the power of amending the same laws in tune with the changing needs of the people. The judge also directed the HC registry to mark a copy of this order to the state's chief secretary for taking appropriate steps in the matter. Since the government collects registration fee and stamp duty, the government should protect the purchasers of properties who are paying huge amounts to the government, Justice Ramana said. The misdeeds of the owners of the properties who sell the same property to several people fall under the category of cheating, the judge said and suggested to the government that such actions should be made punishable. The loopholes and the silence of the law in such cases is resulting in culprits going scotfree, he said. Highlighting the gravity of the situation, Justice Ramana said in his order that the spiraling rise in value of real estate has added a new class of disputes to the court docket which is a signal for the government to move towards amending the law to plug the loopholes in this regard.

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