Effect of non-registration of Document
Effect of Non-Registration of Document Which Requires Registration Under Sec 17 of Registration Act
Introduction:
2. RELEVANT PROVISIONS
Section 49 enacts as under:
“No document required to be registered under this Act ....................... shall:
(a) Operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest whether rested or contingent, to or in immovable property, or
(b) Confer any power to adopt unless it has been registered.
3. CONDITIONS FOR APPLICABILITY OF SECTION 49
The conditions for the applicability of the Section are:
(1) There must be a document.
(2) That document must be required by Section 17 of the Act or by any provision of the Transfer of Property Act to be registered.
(3) That document must not have been registered.
If the above conditions are fulfilled, then the following consequences will follow:
(i)That document cannot effect any immovable property comprised therein
(ii)That document cannot confer any power to adopt;
(iii)That document cannot be received as evidence of any transaction affecting such property or conferring such power.
4. EXPLANATION OF CONDITIONS.
(1) There must be a Document.
The terms of the Section do not apply unless the terms of a transaction have been reduced into writing.
(2) The Document Must be Compulsorily Register-able
Section 49, Registration Act, applies only to documents of which registration is compulsory under Section 17 of that Act, or under any provision of the Transfer of Property Act. It does not forbid the admissibility in evidence of documents of which registration is optional under Section 18, Registration Act and a will is such a document.
(3) Document must not have been Registered.
The Section shall have effect only when the document though required by law to be compulsorily registered, has not yet be so registered.
5. EFFECTS OF NON-REGISTRATION
Effects of non-registration of a compulsorily registerable instruction may be discussed in the following heads
(l) Inoperativeness of Document:
That no document required to be registered under this Act or under any earlier law providing for or relating to registration of documents shall operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, in or to the immovable property.
(2) No Conferment of Power to Adopt.
Under the Section a deed of adoption not registered duly, as required by Section 17 of the Registration Act, shall not confer any power to adopt.
(3)Inadmissibility as Evidence.
A document required to be registered, which is not registered cannot be taken as the evidence of the creation, etc., of any right, title or interest in or to certain immovable property. Therefore, the evidential value of an instrument is destroyed by non-registration, but it may be served as evidence of some collateral transactions.
(4) Admissibility for Collateral Transactions.
Where a document required by law to be registered, is not registered it cannot be allowed to affect an immovable property comprising therein nor it can be received in evidence of any transaction affecting such property under Section 49 of the Registration Act Yet such document can be admitted to prove an admission of a party with regard to the character of the property, i e., whether it is joint or otherwise. AIR 1983 Raj. 57
Illustrations
(a) As evidence of the amount of, and liability for dower:
A gives his son in marriage to B, and agrees to pay PKR 1,000 to B for her dower. A then executes a deed of transfer of an immovable property to B in lieu of dower but refuses to register the deed. B sues A to recover the dower. The deed though unregistered is admissible in evidence to prove the amount of dower and A’s promise to pay the same. 1918 PR No. 23
(b) As evidence of the right to recover a deposit:
Where a lessee has deposited money with his lessor as security for the due performance of the conditions of the lease, and the lease is subsequently determined by the lessor, the lease though unregistered, is admissible in evidence in a suit by the lessee to recover the deposit, to prove the fact that the money was deposited and the lessee’ 5 right to recover it. AIR 1956 Manipur 16
(c) As evidence of receipt of consideration:
A document though unregistered can be received in evidence to prove a recital therein that the executing party had received the consideration. (65) Azad J & K 48
(d) As evidence of relationship:
Document required by law to be registered but not registered is not inadmissible in evidence. Rent deed, not compulsorily required to be registered, executed by tenant in favor of landlord can be relied upon to establish relationship of landlord and tenant between parties.
(e) As evidence of handwriting:
An unregistered document which is impeached as a forgery by the alleged executant may be admitted in evidence to compare the handwriting of the alleged executant with his admitted handwriting. 1881 All. WN 138
(f) As evidence of satisfaction of a decree:
An unregistered document, though inadmissible as evidence of a transaction effecting immovable property comprised therein, is admissible in evidence to prove that a decree passed in favor of one of the parties against the other has been satisfied. (1906) 11 Cal. WN 342
(g) As evidence of the date of taking possession:
An unregistered agreement of lease though inadmissible as evidence of the lease for want of registration may be received in evidence to prove the date of taking possession, or to prove the date of termination of the possession of the lease, or that a person has entered into possession under a contract of sale. (1941) 1171C 282
(h) As evidence of the amount of compensation for use and occupation:
Similarly, the unregistered lease may be admitted in evidence for the purpose of ascertaining the fair amount to be charged for use and occupation. AIR 1932 860
(i) As evidence of attornment:
A mortgages his property to B. A pays off the mortgage and B gives a notice of attornment to the tenants of the property stating that the mortgage had been extinguished and the property redeemed. The notice being unregistered is not admissible as evidence that the mortgage has been redeemed though it is evidence for its own proper purpose of proving the attornment. ILR Bom. 36
(j) As evidence of waiver:
If an agriculturist mortgages his house to the judgment creditor in a compromise of an’ execution proceeding, the mortgage deed, though not registered, maybe admitted in evidence for the purpose of proving that the agriculturist had waived his right to object to its attachment and sale. AIR 1937 Lah. 909
(k) As evidence of an offence:
The document, though unregistered, admissible in evidence to prove an offence under Section 171-B of the Penal Code. (57) A. Andh. 845
(l) As evidence of a debt:
In the case of a simple mortgage bond, an unregistered mortgage, though invalid as a mortgage, may be used to prove the debt. (164) A. Or. 241
You may also read which documents require compulsory registration Section 17 of Registration actRelevant Questions:
What are the effects of registration and non registration?
what is the effect of non-registration of a document which requires registration?
Explanation of Section 49 of registration act 1908.