JUDGMENT :

M.S. Sonak, J.

Heard Mr. Jagannath Mulgaonkar for the Petitioners and Mr. D. J. Pangam, the learned Advocate General for the Respondents.

2. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith with the consent of and at the request of the learned Counsel for the parties.

3. The Petitioners, in their capacity as vendors, presented a draft sale deed for registration before the Civil Registrar and Sub-Registrar of Pernem-Respondent No.6. The sale deed pertains to sale of an undivided share in the property bearing Survey No.202/2 of Village Corgao, Pernem Taluka. The Petitioners have asserted that the sale is in respect of an undivided right of a plot which is as per the survey plan issued by the Survey Department. On this basis, it is the case of the Petitioners that there is no requirement of producing an NOC under Section 49(6) of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974 (as amended) and Respondent No.6 was not at all justified in refusing to even consider the case of the Petitioners for registration of the sale deed, for want of production of an NOC under Section 49(6) of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1974 (said Act).

4. Mr. Mulgaonkar has referred to the clarifications issued by the Chief Town Planner on 23/04/2018 and on 16/07/2019, on this very issue, to submit that even the Chief Town Planner is quite clear that in the circumstances in which the Petitioners are placed, there is no necessity of obtaining any NOC under Section 49(6) of the said Act. Mr. Mulgaonkar also refers to the clarification issued by the Office of the State Registrar-cum-Head of Notary Services on 6th February, 2019, which also provides that for registration of a sale deed relating to undivided share in the land, NOC is not required, if the plots are as per survey plan.

5. Mr. D. Pangam, the learned Advocate General for the State of Goa submits that if such sale deeds are registered, then, the objective for amending Section 49(6) of the said Act might be frustrated. He submits that by this modus operandi, the purchasers will seek to bypass the provisions relating to sub-division of plots. He submits that sub-division of plots is necessary before any permissions are issued for construction, as the sub-divided plots are required to maintain setbacks, open spaces, etc. in terms of law. He, therefore, submits that there is no error on the part of Respondent No.6 in refusing to register the sale deed, without NOC under Section 49(6) of the said Act.

6. Rival contentions now fall for our determination.

7. In this case, there does not appear to be any serious dispute that the sale deed of which the Petitioners seek registration is in respect of a plot which is as per the survey plan. Further, there is no dispute that the Petitioners only seek to sell or transfer their undivided right in the said plot. The issue, therefore, is whether in these circumstances, any NOC under Section 49(6) of the said Act is required for the purpose of registration of a sale deed.

8. Section 49(6) of the said Act, as amended in the year 2009 and 2017, reads thus :

"49. Sanction for sub-division of plot or layout of private street and restriction on registration of purchase, sale or transfer of immovable property.-

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, where any document required to be registered under the provisions of sub-section (1) of Section 29 of the Registration Act, 1908, purports to transfer, assign, limit or extinguish the right, title or interest of any person, in respect of plots which are not as per Survey Plan issued by Survey Department or plots which have no development permissions for such subdivision from Planning and Development Authority within a planning area, or from the Town and Country Planning Department within a area other than a planning area, no registering officer appointed under the Act, shall register any document, unless the owner of such plot produces a certificate of sanction or a certificate of "no objection"