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Karthikeyan v. The Joint Sub-Registrar II

Madras HC21 Feb 2025WP(MD)/4751/2025

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

Registration Act Sections 22A and 22B grounds for refusal; Sub Registrar cannot refuse registration merely because civil suit pending; lis pendens Section 52 Transfer of Property Act; alienation during pendency of suit; refusal check slip quashed; writ of certiorarified mandamus Article 226; Joint Sub Registrar II Sivagangai; sale deed dated 03.02.2025 TP/208536505/2025; O.S.No.40 of 2017 District Court Sivagangai; Karthikeyan and Raja Amuthan v. Joint Sub Registrar II, Sivagangai.

What did the court decide?

Writ petition allowed; impugned Refusal Check Slip No. RFL/2 Joint Sub Registrar Sivagangai/3/2025 dated 03.02.2025 set aside; respondent directed to register the document dated 03.02.2025 presented by the petitioners; no costs. ¶36

Karthikeyan Vs The Joint Sub-Registrar II — Writ and Judicial Review | Madras HC (2025)

What the court decided

AI extract

Outcome

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Issue for consideration

Whether the Sub Registrar could refuse to receive the petitioners' sale deed for registration solely on the ground that a civil suit relating to the property is pending, given that the grounds for refusal are confined to Sections 22A and 22B of the Registration Act.

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Court's answer

Pendency of a civil suit is not a bar for alienation of the property.

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Ratio / Principle

A Sub Registrar can refuse to receive a document for registration only on the specific grounds found under Sections 22A and 22B of the Registration Act; the ground that a suit over the property is pending is not covered under either of those provisions.

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Key takeaways

If suit property is sold while the litigation is pending, the alienation is governed by Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, and addressing its consequences is a matter for the jurisdictional civil court, not the Registrar.ratio¶36
The Registrar need not take upon himself a duty which will be appropriately addressed by the jurisdictional civil court.ratio¶36

Detailed headnote1 paragraphs

Madras High Court (Madurai Bench), single-judge order of V. Lakshminarayanan J., dated 21.02.2025 (Writ Petition(MD)No.4751 of 2025): Held that mere pendency of a civil suit (O.S.No.40 of 2017, District Court, Sivagangai, filed by one Deivanai) is not a bar to alienation of the property and is not one of the grounds under Sections 22A and 22B of the Registration Act on which a Sub Registrar may refuse to receive a document for registration. An alienation effected while a suit is pending falls under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, and any question arising from it is for the jurisdictional civil court, not the Registrar. The Refusal Check Slip No. RFL/2 Joint Sub Registrar Sivagangai/3/2025 dated 03.02.2025 refusing registration of the petitioners' sale deed dated 03.02.2025 was set aside, with a direction to register the document; no costs.

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W.P(MD)No.4751 of 2025

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BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT

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DATED: 21.02.2025

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CORAM

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THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE V.LAKSHMINARAYANAN

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Writ Petition(MD)No.4751 of 2025

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1.Karthikeyan 2.Raja Amuthan

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..Petitioners

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The Joint Sub Registrar II, Sivagangai, Sivagangai District.

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..Respondent

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Prayer: Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying this Court to issue a Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to call for the records pertaining to the impugned Refusal Check Slip No. RFL/2 Joint Sub Registrar Sivagangai/3/2025 dated 03.02.2025 of the respondent, quash the same and consequently to direct the respondent to register the petitioners' sale deed dated 03.02.2025 in connection with temporary No. TP/208536505/2025 filed before the respondent within a period of time stipulated by this Court.

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https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis

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W.P(MD)No.4751 of 2025

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For Petitioners : Ms.A.Harsha For Respondent : Mr.R.Sureshkumar Addl. Govt. Pleader

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ORDER

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The petitioners seek to quash the impugned Refusal Check Slip No. RFL/2, Joint Sub Registrar, Sivagangai/3/2025, dated 03.02.2025 on the file of the respondent, and to direct the respondent to register their sale deed, dated 03.02.2025, in connection with temporary No. TP/208536505/2025 filed before the respondent.

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2.The petitioners claim that they purchased the properties from the four individuals, namely,

(i)Annamalai,

(ii)Panchacharam,

(iii)Subbaiah and

(iv)Velayutham.

The said property originally belonged to one Veerammal, wife of Ramasamy Naicker. She had sold it to one Velayutham Chettiar. Thereafter, the said Velayutham Chettiar bequeathed the property in favour of his son by way of a registered document in Doc.No.461/1961. The beneficiary, under the “WILL”

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W.P(MD)No.4751 of 2025

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mutated the document in his favour and had been in possession and enjoyment of the same.

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3.One of the legal heirs, namely, Deivanai presented the suit in O.S.No. 40 of 2017 on the file of the District Court, Sivagangai and one Balachandran filed a suit in O.S.No.41 of 2017 in the very same Court. The suit in O.S.No.41 of 2017 initiated by the said Balachandran came to be dismissed on 25.04.2022. The suit in O.S.No.40 of 2017 filed by Deivanai is pending consideration. Pending the suit, the defendants therein alienated the property in favour of the writ petitioners. The respondent by the impugned order has refused to register the document on the ground that the civil suit is pending. Hence, the present writ petition.

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I heard Ms.A.Harsha for the petitioners and Mr.R.Sureshkumar, learned Additional Government Pleader for the respondent.

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Pendency of a civil suit is not a bar for alienation of the property. The grounds for refusal of a document are found under Section 22A and 22B of the Registration Act. Only on the specific grounds found therein, a Sub Registrar can refuse to receive the document for registration.

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W.P(MD)No.4751 of 2025

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6.As pointed out above, the ground that the suit is pending is not covered

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under either of the provisions. In any event, if the suit property is being sold pending the litigation, the alienation will be covered under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act. The Registrar need not take upon himself a duty, which will be appropriately addressed by the jurisdictional civil court. I am not able to sustain the impugned order. Hence, the writ petition is allowed, and the impugned Refusal Check Slip No. RFL/2 Joint Sub Registrar Sivagangai/3/2025 dated 03.02.2025 of the respondent is set aside. There shall be a direction to the respondent to register the document dated 03.02.2025 presented by the petitioners for registration. No costs.

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21.02.2025

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NCC : Yes/No Index : Yes/No Internet:Yes skn

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The Joint Sub Registrar II, Sivagangai, Sivagangai District.

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