The District Sub-Registrar must record reasons for refusal to register a document and cannot keep it pending without providing proper endorsement and reasons, as per the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908.

JUDGMENT :

The writ petition is taken up today through Video conferencing.

At the request of the learned counsel for the petitioner, the remaining defects as pointed out by the office are ignored.

The present writ petition has been filed for issuance of direction upon the respondent no. 3 – the District Sub-Registrar, Deoghar to register the duly executed lease deed, which was orally refused by the said respondent on 07.01.2022.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the land along with a building appertaining to Holding No. 42, Ward No. 13 situated under Deoghar Municipality, Town Planning Plot No. 624, Touzi No. 1, Jamabandi No. 3102, Mouza-Shyamganj, P.S.-Deoghar, measuring an area of 4 Katthas, 15.5 Dhurs (hereinafter referred to as “the said land”) is owned by Ramchandra Goenka Charitable Trust, which executed a lease deed bearing no. 3066 dated 27.04.1978 in favour of the petitioner for a part of the said land measuring an area of 2 Katthas, 7 Dhurs (5958 sq.ft.) for a term of 999 years commencing from 01.01.1978. Thereafter, the petitioner came in possession over the said part of land and exercised all his rights attached to it. It is further submitted that as per the aforesaid lease deed, the petitioner has the right to sub-lease, sublet, underlet or to give the said premises to anyone or more persons on such terms and conditions as he may deem fit and proper. The petitioner in exercise of his rights conferred in terms with sub-clause 4 of Clause-II as mentioned in the said lease deed entered into an agreement dated 04.01.2020 with one Manth Green Private Limited to transfer and assign the rights, title and interest with respect to the said premises in its favour or in favour of any other person nominated by it. Thereafter, the said Manth Green Private Limited nominated one Shyam Developers, a partnership firm, for transfer of a part of the said premises measuring an area of 5232 sq.ft. on lease hold basis for unexpired period of lease deed i.e., approx. 955 years. In the light of the aforesaid facts, one lease deed was duly executed and presented before the respondent no. 3 for its registration in accordance with the present norms of registration. Thereafter, the said lease deed was duly uploaded on 30.08.2021 and a pre-registration docket was issued. Pursuant to uploading of the said lease deed on 30.08.2021, the petitioner presented a copy of the lease deed before the respondent no. 3 on 31.08.2021, however, the said authority orally refused to register the same without any reason. The petitioner again uploaded the said lease deed online on 06.01.2022 against which a pre-registration docket was issued online. The petitioner then presented the physical copy of the lease deed before the respondent no. 3 on 07.01.2022, however, the same was not registered by the said authority without assigning any reason, which has compelled the petitioner to file the writ petition.

3. Mr. Rohan Kashyap, AC to GA-II appearing on behalf of the respondents, submits that in absence of any instruction, he is not in a position to explain as to for what reason, the lease deed said to have been presented by the petitioner before the respondent no. 3 has not been registered.

4. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the content of the writ petition. The claim of the petitioner is that the lease deed in question was presented by him before the respondent no. 3 for registration on two occasions i.e., on 31.08.2021 and 07.01.2022, however, the respondent no. 3 neither admitted the same for registration nor assigned any reason for refusal.

5. Under the said factual context, it would be relevant to quote the provision of Section 71 of the Registration Act, 1908 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act, 1908”), which reads as under:

“71. Reasons of refusal to register to be recorded.–(1) Every Sub-Registrar refusing to register a document, except on the ground that the property to which it relates is not situate within his sub-district,