Supreme Court Strikes Down Rule Mandating Proof of Vendor's Title for Registration

This appeal was preferred against the judgment of the Madras High Court, which upheld the refusal of the Sub-Registrar to register a sale deed executed in favor of the appellant, K. Gopi, by one Jayaraman Mudaliyar. The Sub-Registrar refused the registration of document for non-production of the vendor's original title deed as required by Rule 55A(i) of the Registration Rules formulated by the Government of Tamil Nadu under the Registration Act, 1908 (hereinafter 'the 1908 Act'). The appellant's first writ petition against such refusal was rejected, and so also later writ appeal.

The legal issue before the Supreme Court was whether the Tamil Nadu Registration Rules, Rule 55A(i) was ultra vires the Registration Act, 1908, with specific regard to the ambit of Section 69 giving power of rule-making to the Inspector General, and the terms of Sections 22-A and 22-B brought in by the Tamil Nadu amendment to the Act.

The Apex Court observed that the 1908 Act does not empower the registering officer to reject registration on the basis of non-production of the vendor's title documents or inability to prove the vendor's title. It also emphasized that whereas Sections 22-A and 22-B stipulate specific reasons for refusing registration with regard to specific kinds of properties (such as government or religious properties, unauthorized house sites, spurious documents, and prohibited transactions), neither of them includes a blanket directive for the production of the vendor's title deeds.

Supreme Court unequivocally declared that the function of the registering officer is not to adjudicate upon the title of the executant and that the registration of a document simply notes the transaction, conveying only the rights, if any, held by the executant.

The Apex Court held that the rule-making power under Section 69 cannot be utilized for framing rules inconsistent with the provisions of the parent Act. Accordingly, the Court allowed the appellant to file the sale deed for registration, ordering the Sub-Registrar to register it on satisfaction of the requisite procedural formalities.

Finally, the Supreme Court granted the appeal, reversed the judgment of the Madras High Court, and held that Rule 55A(i) of the Tamil Nadu Registration Rules is ultra vires the Registration Act, 1908.

CORAM: Justice Abhay S. Oka & Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
BETWEEN: K. Gopi VS The Sub-Registrar & Ors 2025 INSC 462