a registrar has no power to cancel a registered deed, even if the deed is registered fraudulently. A deed can only be cancelled by approaching the appropriate civil court, invoking Section 31 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963.*

*The Delhi High Court recently reiterated that a registrar has no power to cancel a registered deed, even if the deed is registered fraudulently. A deed can only be cancelled by approaching the appropriate civil court, invoking Section 31 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963.*

A Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Kameswar Rao clarified this position while quashing certain provisions of a 2016 circular which empowered registrars to cancel deeds if they were found to be fraudulently registered.

Appearing for the Areness Foundation, which challenged the circular, Advocate Sanya Kapur argued that in the absence of express statutory powers to this effect, registrars do not have the power to cancel registered deeds. To buttress her case, Kapur pointed out that the Supreme Court has already ruled that even the Inspector General has no power to cancel the registration of any document which has been already been registered. This was held in the 2016 case of Satya Pal Anand v State of Madhya Pradesh.

To the contrary, advocate Ramesh Singh had contended that registering authorities have inherent powers to cancel a deed if it is obtained by fraud. It was his case that the registrar’s “inherent” power to recall a deed in such cases could be traced, inter alia, to Section 82 of the Registration Act, 1908. This provision makes false impersonation, making false statements etc. a punishable offence. It was argued that when such a fraudulent deed is penalised and therefore liable to be treated as void, there is no need for the party to approach a civil court to get its registration cancelled.

The Court, however, disagreed, finding merit in the petitioner’s argument that the role of the Registrar ends once a deed is registered. The law in this regard, as already clarified in the Satya Pal case, is as follows:

(i) The role of Sub Registrar (Registration) stands discharged, once the document is registered.

(ii) There is no express provision in the Registration Act which empowers Registrar to recall registration.

(iii) The fact whether the document was properly presented for registration cannot be reopened by the Registrar after its registration.

(iv) The power of the Inspector General is limited to do superintendence of registration offices and make rules in that behalf. Even the Inspector General has no power to cancel the registration of any document, which has already been registered.

Therefore, the Court quashed the circular in so far as it gave the Registrar powers to cancel deed of registration.

“… in view of the clear exposition of law, the impugned circular issued, giving power to the Registrar to annul the registration is ultra vires the Registration Act…Accordingly, the circular dated July 13, 2016 to the extent it empowers the Registrar to annul a registered document is ultra vires the Registration Act, 1908 and is set aside.”