PUNE: The central government will have to make amendments to the Registration Act, 1908 to allow sub-registrars in the state to refuse registration of property documents violating central or state laws, registration department officials said on Saturday.
The proposal was placed for amendment in August last year, after the monsoon session of the state assembly, to the judicial division of the Ministry of Home Affairs through the governor’s office, registration officials said. Besides Maharashtra, other states such as Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have placed similar proposals seeking amendments to the central act.
“The state cannot implement it unless the central government makes changes in the act, deputy secretary of revenue department S Bajaj said. “The state had sent the proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs (judicial division) for the amendment as it is a central act. Once the amendment is made it can be implemented in the state,” he told TOI.
“Section 18 (a) will be incorporated in the said act to give sub-registrars the powers to refuse registration of certain documents relating to transactions prohibited by any central or state law,” a property registration department official said.
The proposal was cleared by the Maharashtra legislative assembly and council at its meeting on July 25 and August 3, 2023. The call for amendment has been made following violations of the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Act, 2016, and the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947 in some property documents registered in last two years. “The amendments will ensure that sub-registrars check the documents before registration,” said a senior registration department official. The Avdhoot Law Foundation has opposed giving too many powers to the sub-registrars for fear of corruption. “The said powers may be misused by sub-registrars,” said Shrikant Joshi of the foundation.
