Documents of which registration is compulsory in India

17. Documents of which registration is compulsory.- (1) The following documents shall be registered, if property to which they relate is situate in a district in which, and if they have been executed on or after the date on which, Act No. XVI of 1864, or the Indian Registration Act 1871, or the Indian Registration Act, 1877 or this Act came or comes into force, namely :

(a) instruments of gift of immovable property ;

(b) other non-testamentary instruments which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property ;

(c) non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of such right, title or interest ; and

(d) leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent ;

(e) non-testamentary instruments transferring or assiging any decree or order of a Court or any award when such decree order or award purports or operates to create, declare,assign, limit or extinguish whether in present or in furture any right, title or interest, whether vested or contigent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property :

Provided that the State Government may, by order published in the official Gazette exempt from the operation of this sub-section any leases executed in any district or part of a district the terms granted by which do not exceed five years and annual rent reserved by which do not exceed fifty rupees.

1[(1A) The documents containing contracts to transfer for consideration, any immovable property for the purpose of section 53A of the transfer of Property Act, 1882(4 of 1882), shall be registered if they have been executed on or after the commencement of the Registration and Other Related laws (Amendment) Act, 2001, and if such documents are not registered on or after such commencement, then, they shall have no effect for the purposes of the said section 53A.]

(2) Nothing in clauses (b) and (c) of sub-section (1) applies to -

(i) any compostion deed ; or

(ii) any instrument relating to shares in a Joint Stock Company, notwithstanding that assests of such Company consist in whole or in part of immovable property ; or

(iii) any debenture issued by any such Company and not creating, declaring, assigning, limiting or extinguishing any right,title or interest, to or in immovable property except in so far as it entitles the holder to the security afforded by a registered instrument whereby the Company has mortgaged, conveyed or otherwise transferred the whole or part of its immovable property or any interest therein to trustees upon trust for the benefit of the holders of such debentures ; or

(iv) any endorsement upon or transfer of any debenture issued by any such company ; or

(v) 2 [any document other than the documents specified in sub section (1A)] not itself creating, declaring, assigning, limiting or extinguishing, any right, title or interest of the value of one hudred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property, but merely creating a right to obtain another document which will, when executed, create, declare, assign,limit or extinguish any such right, title or interest ; or

(vi) any decree or order of a Court except a decree or order expressed to be made on a compromise and comprising immovable property other than that which is the subject matter of the suit or proceeding ; or

(vii) any grant of immovable property by the Government ; or

(viii) any instrument of partition made by a revenue officer ; or

(ix) any order granting a loan or instrument of collateral security granted under the Land Improvement Loans Act 1871, or the Land Improvement Loans Act, 1883 ; or

(x) any order granting a loan under the Agriculturists Loans Act, 1884, or instrument for securing the Repayment of a loan made under that Act ; or

(x-a) any order made under the Charitable>

(xi) any endoresement on a mortgage deed acknowledgeing the payment of the whole or any part of the mortgage money, and any other receipt for payment of money due under a mortgage when the receipt does not purport to extinguish the mortgage ; or

(xii) any certificate of sale granted to the purchaser of any property sold by public auction by a Civil or Revenue Officer.

Explanation. - A document purporting or operating to effect a contract for the sale of immovable property shall not be deemed to require or ever to have required registration by a reason only of the fact that such document contains a recital of the payment of any earnest money or of the whole or any part of the purchase money.

(3) Authorities to adopt a son, executed after the first day of January 1872, and not conferred by a will, shall also be registered.

1&2. Ins. By the Registration and Other Related Laws (Amendment) Act,2001,sec.3.

18. Documents of which registration is optional.- Any of the following documents may be registered under this Act, namely;

(a) instruments (other than instruments of gift and wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign limit or extinguish whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest whether vested or contingent, of a value less than one hundred rupees, to or in immovable property ;

(b) instruments acknowledging the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest ;

(c) leases of immovable property for any term not exceeding one year, and leases exempted under section 17 ;

(cc) instruments transferring or assigning any degree or order of a Court or any award when such decree or order or award purports or operate to create, declare assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, vested or contingent of a value less than one hundred rupees, to or in immovable property ;

(d) instruments (other than wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish any right, title or interest to or in movable property;

(e) wills ; and

(f) all other documents not required by section 17 to be registered.