K.UMADEVI Vs. SUB REGISTRAR OFFICE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The writ petitioners, who are the purchasers of the property, aggrieved by the orders of refusal to register the documents of sale, have filed the above writ petitions.

(2.) The property originally belonged to one Rathinam @ Gurusamy. He had settled the same in favour of his daughter, Vimala, who is the third respondent, by way of an Irrevocable Settlement Deed dated 11.02.2009, which is registered as Document No.515/2009. The Settlement Deed was also signed by the mother and the sister of the third respondent as witnesses. After the settlement deed, the third respondent had mutated the revenue records and obtained patta in her name. The third respondent also availed a loan from the State Bank of India, Uthangarai Branch, by executing an equitable mortgage on 19.08.2009. When she was unable to clear the dues to the Bank, she offered to sell the property to the petitioners. Accordingly, the third respondent sold the property in favour of the petitioners on 26.04.2013, by executing the sale deeds, which were pending before the first respondent, as pending Documents No.11 and 10 of 2013 respectively.

(3.) While so, the sale deeds were rejected on 26.07.2013 by the first respondent by merely stating "Registration Refused"?. The first respondent had written the reasons for refusal in the original sale deeds themselves on 26.07.2013 and also served a copy of the impugned proceedings in Se.Mu.No.P.11/2013. The reason given in the orders of refusal to register is that the third respondent's father had unilaterally cancelled the settlement given in her favour by a registered document dated 23.12.2012 in Document No.936/2012. Appeal Nos.2 and 3 of 2013 were filed by the petitioners before the District Registrar under Section 72 of the Registration Act, 1908, stating that the impugned orders passed by the first respondent are in violation of the principles of natural justice. The District Registrar also confirmed the orders of the first respondent without independent application of mind and dismissed the appeals on 11.10.2013.