All About Registration of Documents 

For securing your rights and interests over a property, you must ensure that all your documents,  which have to be compulsorily registered under the Registration Act, are in order

Registration of documents is immensely important in numerous transactions that involve  immoveable property such as sale, gift, certain kinds of lease, etc. There are certain documents  which require compulsory registration and certain others which do not. Documents such as sale  deed, gift deed and partition deed require compulsory registration. However, registration is  optional for documents that create lease of a property for a term less than one year (also referred  to as month to month tenancy for a period not exceeding eleven months) and not reserving yearly rent.


Provisions regarding the registrability of documents are laid down in Registration Act, 1908 (Act).  The following points must be kept in mind when registering a document for transactions of  immovable property:

Though the provisions of the Act are largely the same across the country, there are state  amendments in certain parts of the Act. Thus, one must check the state-specific provisions before  registering the document.

The amount of registration fee levied on a document may differ from state to state.

The document should be registered in the office of the sub-registrar, within whose jurisdiction the  property in question is located. If portions of the property fall in two or more sub-districts, the  document can be registered at the sub-registrar’s office of either sub-district. If one registers the  document in the wrong sub-district, such registration shall be considered invalid, which renders  the document inadmissible in evidence in the courts of law.

If the document relates to more than one immovable property, all of which are situated in different  sub-districts, the parties have the option of having the document registered in either of the  sub-districts.

Usually, documents are registered at the office of the relevant sub-registrar/registrar. However,  there may be certain exceptional circumstances where registration may be done by authorised  revenue officer at other places, such as at the residence of the person desiring to present the  document for registration.

Stamping and registration of documents are two distinct aspects and are governed by separate  Acts. Documents that require compulsory payment of stamp duty may or may not require  compulsory registration.

Payment of stamp duty and registration fee (wherever required), makes the documents admissible  in evidence in courts of law. Cases where courts have received an instrument that is not duly  stamped or registered as evidence are few and far between. So, to secure your rights and  interests, make sure all your documents which require compulsory registration are in order.

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 12-05-2012