Now Time Bar documents will not be Registered by the Office of Sub-Registrar


Register this says Adv. R. P. Rathod!

As per a recent Circular issued by the Inspector General of Registration & Controller of Stamps, Maharashtra State, documents not registered within the stipulated time frame cannot be annexed to other documents presented for registration, examines Adv. R. P. Rathod.

Shri. S Chockalingam, The Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps, Maharashtra State, Pune has vide a Marathi Circular No. Sec 4/PR CR 617/2011/3008., Dt. 22nd December 2011 instructed all Sub-Registrars in the State not to allow any document which was compulsorily required to be registered but were not registered within the stipulated time frame, to be annexed to other documents such as Confirmation Deed or Declaration Deed, which may be presented for registration.

This Circular reached the respective Sub-Registrar’s Offices by the end of December 2011 & with the beginning of January 2012 the registrars are not accepting such documents citing this Circular. Now the several Agents standing outside the Sub-Registrar’s Offices are spreading rumors among the public that this Circular is illegal. Adv. R. P. Rathod. states that before coming to any conclusion or drawing any  inference we have to see what is the provision of law.

Adv. R. P. Rathod says that it is pertinent to Note what does the Law say?
Ø   Under Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 certain documents require compulsory registration, such as Instruments of gift of Immovable property and instruments of sale Immovable property the value of which is One Hundred rupees and more, etc. in respect of immovable property, leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent. Wills do not require compulsory registration.  For details as to which documents are required to be compulsorily registered please refer our Column: Faq’s on Registration of documents.

Ø   Under Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908 all such documents other than a Will are required to be presented for registration within four months from the date of their execution provided that a copy of a decree or order may be presented within four months from the date on which the decree or order was made or, where it is appealable, within four months from the day on which it becomes final.

Ø   Under Section 25 of the Registration Act, 1908 if a document is not presented within Four months due to urgent necessity or unavoidable accident, the Registrar may accept the document for registration within further four months on payment of a fine not exceeding 10 times the amount of registration fee. As per the Registration Act, 1908, there is no provision for Registration of the documents after Eight Months.


        Many a times, documents relating to immovable property are executed and not presented for registration within the mandatory Eight Months period says Adv. R. P. Rathod. Sometimes Stamp duty is also paid on such documents. Prior to this Circular in such cases where proper stamp duty was paid on the Original document, many persons executed a Confirmation Deed confirming the contents of the original document and the original document was then annexed to the Confirmation Deed and the Confirmation Deed was then presented for registration. Sometimes if all the parties were not in a position to execute and register the Confirmation Deed, a one-sided Declaration was executed confirming the contents of the original document, which was then annexed to the Declaration and then the Declaration was presented for registration. In this manner the original document was brought on record of the Registrar. Thus the present Circular has been issued by The Inspector General of Registration and Controller of Stamps to avoid this practice adds Adv. R. P. Rathod.


Adv. R. P. Rathod states that one of the main reasons Shri. S Chockalingam stated in the Circular for not allowing such a Confirmation Deed or Declaration Deed to be registered is that the Original document is submitted as an annexure, even though it is earlier not registered within the prescribed time frame for registration, comes on record of the Registration Office if it is annexed to the Confirmation Deed or Declaration Deed and therefore appears to be registered by which undue benefits could be derived. Further with regard to unilateral Declarations photographs and thumb impressions of only some parties to the Original document appear and the photographs and thumb impressions of other parties who are not party to the Declaration do not appear and therefore the provisions of Section 32A of the Registration Act, 1908 are violated.

Adv. R. P. Rathod adds that Registration of such documents is legally termed as one sided Agreement & it is treated as Affidavit as the other party to the document does not appear before the Registrar. He further states that the Supreme Court has in the matter of Tulokchand Harnath V/s Gokulbhai Mulchand (ILR.21 BOM 724) held that “If the two documents are essentially distinct, being separately stamped and executed to effect different objects, the Registrar has no power to register them as one, even if the party presenting them for registration styles one of them to be the annexure of the other especially where the registration of the document styled the annexure or appendix is barred by limitation”.


He further states that the effect of non-registration of a document which is required to be registered is serious. It is inter-alia provided in Section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908 that if such document is not registered, it shall not affect any immovable property comprised therein and shall not be received as evidence of any transaction affecting such property.



However it is an established Law through various Judgments of High Courts & Supreme Court that such unregistered document may be received as evidence of a contract in a suit for specific performance or as evidence of any collateral transaction not required to be effected by registered instrument concludes Adv. R. P. Rathod.