S. Nagamuthu, J.

In all these writ petitions, the challenge is to the orders passed by the Sub Registrars under the Registration Act, 1908, either refusing to register the sale deeds or refusing to return the sale deeds after registration. The impugned orders came to be passed in the following circumstances:

(i) The Registration Act, 1908 was amended by the Registration (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act, 2008 which received the assent of the President of India on 29.01.2009 and the same was also notified and thus the same has come into force.

(ii) By means of the said amendment, Section 22-A was introduced after Section 22 in the Parent Act. The newly introduced Section 22-A reads as follows:

“Section 22-A: Refusal to register certain documents:- Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the registering officer shall refuse to register any of the following documents, namely:-

(1) instrument relating to the transfer of immovable properties by way of sale, gift, mortgage, exchange or lease,-

(i) belonging to the State Government or the local authority or Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority established under section 9-A of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971;

(ii) belonging to, or given or endowed for the purpose of, any religious institution to which the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 is applicable;

(iii) donated for Bhoodan Yagna and vested in the Tamil Nadu State Bhoodan Yagna Board established under section 3 of the Tamil Nadu Bhoodan Yagna Act, 1958; or

(iv) of Wakfs which are under the superintendence of the Tamil Nadu Wakf Board established under the Wakf Act, 1995, unless a sanction in this regard issued by the competent authority as provided under the relevant Act or in the absence of any such authority, an authority so authorised by the State Government for this purpose, is produced before the registering officer;

(2) instrument relating to the transfer of ownership of lands converted as house sites without the permission for development of such land from planning authority concerned:

Provided that the house sites without such permission may be registered if it is shown that the same house site has been previously registered as house site.

Explanation I. – For the purpose of this section ‘local authority’ means, –

(i) any Municipal Corporation constituted under any law for the time being in force; or

(ii) a Municipal Council constituted under the Tamil Nadu District Municipalities Act, 1920 ; or

(iii) a Panchayat Union Council or a Village Panchayat constituted under the Tamil Nadu Panchayats Act, 1994 ; or

(iv) any other Municipal Corporation, that may be constituted under any law for the time being in force.

Explanation II. – For the purpose of this section ‘planning authority’ means the authority constituted under section 11 of, and includes the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority established under section 9-A of the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act, 1971;

(3) instrument relating to cancellation of sale deeds without the consent of the person claiming under the said sale deed.”

(iii) As seen above, Sub-Section (1)(ii) of Section 22-A mandates that the registering officer shall refuse to register any document by way of sale, gift, mortgage, exchange or lease of immovable property belonging to or given or endowed for the purpose of any religious institution to which the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as ' TN HR & CE Act') is applicable.

(iv) The immovable properties belonging to or given or endowed for the support of mutts or temples, or given or endowed for the performance of any service or charity of a public nature connected therewith or of any other religious charity including the institution concerned and also the premises thereof and excluding the gifts of property made as personal gifts to the archaka, service holder or other employee of a religious institution have been defined as either “religious en