Administrative Authorities Can't Cancel Registered Sale Deed Even On Allegations Of Impersonation/ Fraud: Allahabad High Court

The Allahabad High Court has reiterated that a sale deed registered under the Registration Act, 1908 cannot be set aside by the registering authority or by any authority invoking administrative powers, even where the registration is questioned on the ground of impersonation or fraud.

Relying on the Full Bench decision of the Allahabad High Court in Smt. Kusum Lata v. State of U.P.., the bench of Justice Neeraj Tiwari and Justice Vivek Saran held,

“There is no dispute about the settled legal position with respect to the judgment rendered inRe: Smt. Kusum Lata (supra) that a duly registered sale deed under the Act cannot be set aside by registering authority or by any authority invoking administrative powers, if the registration is questioned even on the count of impersonation/fraud.”

A complaint was made before the Assistant Inspector General of Registration, Gorakhpur by one Jang Bahadur, who alleged that his real brother Firangi Prasad had impersonated him and sold his land in villages Rakauli, Jharkata, Sodhaveer and Kohna, Gopalpur in district Gorakhpur to his own wife, Prema Devi. He alleged that the sale deed dated July 12^th 2016, registered as No.2452 of 2016, had been executed by playing fraud and sought its cancellation.

On the complaint, the Deputy Registrar, Gola, Gorakhpur was directed to submit a report, and the other executants, the marginal witness and the deed writer were called upon to furnish proof of identity. After the enquiry, the Assistant Inspector General of Registration cancelled the sale deed, acting under a Government Order dated August 13^th 2013.

Prema Devi approached the High Court seeking a writ of certiorari quashing the cancellation order.

Counsel for petitioner submitted that the registering authority becomes functus officio once a sale deed is registered, and neither the Sub-Registrar nor any superior officer has the authority to cancel a duly registered sale deed.

He relied on Smt. Kusum Lata, where the Full Bench held that only a civil court of competent jurisdiction can hold a duly registered document null and void. He further submitted that the Government Order dated August 13^th 2013 had itself been quashed by the High Court in Krishna Kumar Saxena and another v. State of U.P. and 9 Others.

The Court observed that there was no dispute over the settled position in Smt. Kusum Lata, or over the fact that Krishna Kumar Saxena had quashed the Government Order dated August 13^th 2013 as being wholly without jurisdiction, on the ground that the authority could neither initiate an enquiry nor annul the document.

“Further this Court finds that once the law is settled then there can be no other view possible in the matter regarding the competence of the authorities to annul the duly registered sale-deed.”

The Court held that an order cancelling a registered sale deed cannot survive once the Government Order under which it was passed has been quashed.

Accordingly, the Court allowed the writ petition and quashed the order of cancellation of sale deed.

Case Title: Smt. Prema Devi v. State of U.P. and 4 others

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