Nivasam Mutual Aided House Building Society Ltd. vs State of Andhra Pradesh

Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2018 Supreme(SC) 671

SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
KURIAN JOSEPH, MOHAN M. SHANTANAGOUDAR, NAVIN SINHA, JJ.
Siri Nivasam Mutual Aided House Building Society Ltd. & Ors. - Appellants
Versus
State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors. - Respondents
Civil Appeal Nos. 4019, 4023, 4020, 4021-4022, 4027-4028, 4033-4035, 4036-4037, 4024-4025, 4032, 4026, 4029, 4030, 4031, 4061, 4040, 4039, 4044, 4042, 4041, 4038, 4043, 4054, 4045, 4046, 4049, 4047, 4048, 4053, 4055, 4056-4058, 4059, 4062, 4060, 4063, 4069, 4066, 4070, 4067, 4068, 4064, 4075, 4073, 4065, 4071, 4072, 4078, 4085, 4074, 4076, 4082, 4083, 4077, 4081, 4080, 4079, 4084, 4089, 4088, 4087, 4091, 4086, 4090, 4092, 4093, 4095, 4094, 4096, 4098, 4097, 4099, 4100, 4101, 4103, 4102, 4106, 4104, 4109, 4105, 4108, 4107, 4110, 4111, 4112, 4113, 4160, 4122, 4141, 4125, 4123, 4120, 4126, 4121, 4124, 4127, 4128, 4129, 4130, 4133, 4131, 4132, 4134, 4135, 4136, 4137, 4138, 4139, 4140, 4142, 4143, 4144, 4145, 4146, 4149, 4150, 4147, 4151, 4152, 4153, 4154, 4155, 4156, 5157, 4158, 4159, 4148, 4162, 4163, 4202, 4203, 4161, 4171, 4167, 4169, 4168, 4165, 4170, 4164, 4172, 4166, 4173, 4183, 4176, 4179, 4177, 4174, 4180, 4181, 4182, 4178, 4184, 4186, 4187, 4188, 4175, 4185, 4189, 4190, 4191, 4196, 4192, 4198, 4194, 4193, 4195, 4044, 4204, 4205, 4211, 4217, 4212, 4199, 4201, 4200, 4206, 4213, 4207, 4208, 4209, 4210, 4216, 4218, 4214, 4215, 4219, 4220, 4222, 4223, 4227, 4225, 4226, 4224, 4221 & 4119 of 2018 [@ Special Leave Petition (C) Nos. 15009, 16231, 15014, 15102-15103, 25936-25937, 25927-25929, 25925-25926, 23796-23797, 23822, 22393, 22794, 23814, 23811, 34468, 25089, 25074, 26760, 25128, 25127, 24559, 26945, 29206, 29171, 28587, 29198, 29175, 29177, 29205, 30598, 30603-30605, 34466, 34471, 34467, 34472, 33342, 34476, 34479, 34477, 34478, 34473, 36568, 35767, 34474, 35785, 35783, 36564, 37989, 36587, 36583, 36582, 36585, 36584, 36577, 36566, 36563, 36569, 37994, 37993, 37992, 38000, 37990, 37995, 38002, 38003, 38006, 38005 of 2016; 726, 5334, 5325, 3622, 5338, 5321, 9421, 7589, 12758, 12359, 12794, 12416, 12757, 12795, 15463, 15464, 15466, 15467, 36601, 25066, 26836, 25201, 25067, 25046, 25203, 25065, 25195, 25207, 25208, 25212, 25220, 25229, 25227, 25228, 25248, 25250, 25251, 25252, 25253, 25254, 25255, 26838, 26842, 26843, 27300, 30706, 32767, 32768, 32762, 32769, 32770, 32771, 32772, 32773, 32774, 32775, 32776, 32777, 32764, 36606, 36607 of 2017; 8703, 8704, 36605, 1793, 1789, 1791, 1790, 1787, 1792, 1786, 1794, 1788, 1795, 3413, 3406, 3409, 3407, 3402, 3410, 3411, 3412, 3408, 3414, 3416, 3417, 3418, 3403, 3415, 3419, 3420, 4710, 6759, 4711, 7182, 6755, 6754, 6756, 6760, 8717, 8718, 8746, 9681, 8747, 7848, 8502, 7850, 8730, 9238, 8732, 8735, 8737, 8739, 9679, 9685, 9645, 9647, 10385, 10386, 10388, 10389, 10395, 10393, 10394, 10392, 10387 of 2018 & 18215 of 2017] Civil Appeal Nos. 4114, 4115, 4116, 4117 & 4118 of 2018 [@ Special Leave Petition (C) 15632, 15633, 15634, 15636 & 15640 of 2017] [@ Special Leave Petition (C) …... CC Nos. 8414, 8836, 8877, 9018 & 9034 of 2017] Civil Appeal No. 4228 of 2018 [@ Special Leave Petition (C) No. 10558 of 2018] [Diary No. 13921 of 2018]
Decided On : 19-04-2018

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
Ms. V. Mohana, Mr. V.V.S. Rao, Mr. M. A. Chinnasamy, Ch. Leela Sarveswar, Mr. N. Chandrasekhar Reddy, Mr. Krishan Pal Mavi, Ms. Vijayshree Pattnaik, Mr. A.V.S. Raju, Mr. Somanatha Padhan, Ms. Anjana Prakash Desai, Mr. Namit Saxena, Ms. Taruna Ardhendumauli Prasad, Mr. Subromaniam Prasad, Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, Mr. N. Chandra Shekhar Reddy, Mr. Prabhat Kumar, Ms. Sindoora VNL, Mr. Udai Khanna, Ms. Ankita Sharma, Mr. Arjun Singh, Mr. H.N. Nagmohan Das, Mr. Mullapudi Rambabu, Mr. N. Eswara Rao, M/S. M. Rambabu And Co., Mr. V. Sridhar Reddy, Mr. Vikram Deep Sharma, Mr. Goli Ramakrishna, Mr. Sumanth Nookala, Mr. Abhijit Sengupta, Mr. Shaik Mohamad Haneef, Mr. Rahul Singh, Mr. K. Sita Rama Rao, Mr. Shree Pal Singh, Mr. Sadineni Ravi Kumar, Mr. G. N. Reddy, Mr. Y. Raja Gopala Rao, Mr. Anil Kumar Tandale, Mr. Ashok Anand, Mr. D. Abhinav Rao, Mr. Dhirendra Kumar Mishra, Mr. P.B. Reddy, Mr. M. Mukherjee, Mrs. Sarla Chandra, Mr. Guntur Prabhakar, Ms. Prerna Singh, Mr. Gautam Parashar, Mr. K.L. Sastry, Mr. M. Nageshwara Rao, Mr. M. Bala Shivudu, Dr. Vinod Kumar Tiwari, Mr. K. Rajendran, Mr. Roshan Chapagain, Mr. Pukhrambam Ramesh Kumar, Mr. P. Venkat Reddy, Mr. Prashant Kr. Tyagi, M/S. Venkat Palwai Law Associates, Mr. Sridhar Potaraju, Mr. Sadineni Ravi Kumar, Mr. Y. Raja Gopala Rao, Mr. Abhijit Sengupta

Headnote:
Registration - Property Transfer - Registration Act, 1908 - Section 22 A (1) (a) to (d) - Summary of Acts and Sections: The court discussed the pre-requisites for applying clauses (a) to (e) of Section 22-A(1) of the Registration Act, the circumstances justifying the refusal of registration, the redressal mechanism under Section 22-A(4), and the effect of registration on title under clauses (a) to (e). The court emphasized the obligations of authorities to prepare and communicate lists of prohibited properties, the availability of redressal mechanisms, and the binding nature of the court's directions on parties and registering authorities under the Act.
Fact of the Case:

The appellants were aggrieved by the refusal to register the transfer of their property under Section 22 A (1) (a) to (d) of the Registration Act, 1908. The main issue pending before the High Court was the vires of Section 22A of the Act. The court remitted the matters to the High Court, permitting parties to seek impleadment or file fresh writ petitions.
Finding of the Court:

The court permitted provisional registration subject to the result of the pending writ petitions, with a condition that no further registration shall take place without permission from the Court. It allowed parties to seek similar interim orders regarding transfers during the pendency of the writ petitions. The court emphasized the availability of redressal mechanisms and the need for a workable solution in respect of the orders that have otherwise become final.
Issues: The issues included the refusal of registration under Section 22 A (1) (a) to (d), the pending challenge to the vires of Section 22A of the Act, and the applicability of redressal mechanisms to grievances under Section 22A(1)(a) to (d).
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the obligations of authorities to prepare and communicate lists of prohibited properties, the availability of redressal mechanisms, and the binding nature of the court's directions on parties and registering authorities under the Act.
Final Decision: The appeals were disposed of, and the matters were remitted to the High Court. The court permitted provisional registration subject to the result of the pending writ petitions and allowed parties to seek similar interim orders regarding transfers during the pendency of the writ petitions.

JUDGMENT :

Kurian, J.

1. Diary No. 13921 of 2018 and SLP (C) No. 18215 of 2017 are taken on record. Permission to file Special Leave Petition(s) is granted.

2. Delay condoned. Leave granted.

3. In all these cases, the appellants are aggrieved since they have not been permitted to effect registration of the transfer of their property. According to the learned counsel appearing for the State, the property concerned as per Section 22 A (1) (a) to (d) of Registration Act, 1908 (in short, “the Act”) appears either in the list published on the website or in the notification under Section 22 A (1) (e). Sh. V.V.S. Rao, learned senior counsel, points out that the people in the rural areas in the State may not have access to the website. The learned counsel for the State points out that a copy of the list is available also with all the Sub-Registrars across the State. Therefore, it is open to the appellants to verify whether they are either in the list prepared by the authorities concerned or as notified in terms of Section 22A(1)(e) of the Act.

4. The Full Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, in the impugned Judgment, had formulated the following two questions :-

“1. What are the pre-requisites that are to be satisfied for applying any one or more of clauses (a) to (e) of Section 22-A(1) of the Registration Act to any document dealing with alienation or transfer by way of sale, agreement of sale, gift, exchange or lease etc. in respect of immovable property presented for registration?

2. Under what circumstances, the act of the Registering authority concerned (District Registrar or Sub-Registrar) in refusing from registration of the aforementioned document/s by applying any one or more of the prohibitory clauses (a) to (e) under Section 22-A(1) of the Registration Act can be said to be justified?”

The above questions have been answered as follows:-

“(i) The authorities mentioned in the guidelines, which are obliged to prepare lists of properties covered by clauses (a) to (d), to be sent to the registering authorities under the provisions of Registration Act, shall clearly indicate the relevant clause under which each property is classified.
(ii) Insofar as clause (a) is concerned, the concerned District Collectors shall also indicate the statute under which a transaction and its registration is prohibited. Further in respect of the properties covered under clause (b), they shall clearly indicate which of the Governments own the property.
(iii) Insofar as paragraphs (3) and (4) in the Guidelines, covering properties under clause (c) and (d) are concerned, the authorities contemplated therein shall also forward to the registering authorities, along with lists, the extracts of registers/gazette if the property is covered by either endowment or wakf, and declarations/orders made under the provisions of Ceiling Acts if the property is covered under clause (d).
(iv) The authorities forwarding the lists of properties/lands to the registering authority shall also upload the same to the website of both the Governments, namely igrs.ap.gov.in of the State of Andhra Pradesh and registration. telangana.gov.in of the State of Telangana. If there is any change in the website, the State Governments shall indicate the same to all concerned, may be by issuing a press note or an advertisement in prominent daily news papers.
(v) No notification, contemplated by sub-section (2) of Section 22A, is necessary with respect to the properties falling under clauses (a) to (d) of sub-section (1) of Section 22-A.
(vi) The properties covered under clause (e) of Section 22-A shall be notified in the official gazette of the State Governments and shall be forwarded, along with the list of properties, and a copy of the relevant notification/gazette, to the concerned registering authorities under the provisions of Registration Act and shall also place the said notification/gazette on the aforementioned websites of both the State Governments. The Registering authorities shall make a

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