K.ANANTHA RAO Vs. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) By this writ petition, the petitioner has challenged the constitutional validity of Section 6-D of the Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). The petitioner is the owner and possessor of the agricultural land admeasuring Acs.10-29 guntas in Sy.No.612 of Muthyampet village, Mallial Mandal, Karimnagar district. He is a practicing Advocate in this High Court. Because of the health problem, he is bedridden. In order to maintain the family and also to arrange marriage of his daugther, he has decided to sell the abovementioned land. He was holding the pattadar pass book for the said land. He is also having a share in the property inherited from his ancestors apart from the said land. His brother has filed a partition suit in the Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, Jagityal, Karimnagar, wherein his father is the first defendant, he is the second defendant and his sister and children are the other defendants. Though the above partition suit relates to the ancestral property and does not relate to the land owned by him, his learned lawyer in the above partition suit filed the pattadar pass book pertaining to the said land is in Sy.No.612 in the said Court. He has already obtained a certified copy of the pattadar pass book and filed an application for return of the original pattadar pass book. The said application is pending as the other parties to the suit contest the application taking time indefinitely to file counter affidavit. As such, he states that he was not issued the title deed in respect of the said land in Sy.No.612.

(2.) Because of the non-obstante clause in Section 6-D of the Act, the petitioner cannot execute sale deed in order to sell the said land to third party. The said non-obstante clause under sub-section (1) of Section 6-D provides an obligation on the part of any person having interest or right in land to produce the title deed and pass book before the registering authority appointed under the Registration Act, 1908 along with the documents he proposes to get registered. It is further obligation under the said provision on the part of the said registering authority to make entry of every transaction of sale, gift, purchase, mortgage, lease or exchange in such title deed and pass book at the appropriate place or places under his signature and official seal. Sub-section (2) of the said non-obstante clause provides that the registering authority shall not register any document relating to a transaction of the nature referred to in sub-section (1) without the production of the title deed and pass book by both the parties to the transaction. Though Section 6-D of the Act was introduced in the year 1989 by A.P. Act 1 of 1989, the State Government went on issuing orders from time to time exempting the provisions of that Section for the registrations of the documents. Accordingly, the registering authorities had hitherto not been insisting on production of pattadar pass book and title deed all these years at the time of registration of the sale deeds in respect of the agricultural lands. However, the second respondent has now issued draft memo No.G1/17480/96, dated 08-05-2012, basing on the Government Memo No.18549/Regn.1/A1/2012-1, dated 08-05-2012 instructing all the Sub-Registrars not to accept the documents if the pattadar pass books are not produced by both the parties to the transaction as required under Section 6-D of the Act. Because of the aforesaid memo, the third respondent is now insisting on the production of the pattadar pass book and title deed for entertaining the document for registration of sale of his land. Thus he is aggrieved by Section 6-D of the Act.

(3.) In the petition, to challenge the aforesaid Section, it is alleged that the registration of deeds and documents falls under Entry-6 of List III of Schedule VII of the Constitution of India and in exercise of the same, the Government of India has enacted the Registration Act, 1908. Section 32 of the Registration Act, 1908 deals with the presentation of the documents for registration, Section 32-A deals with affixing of photographs, Section 33 deals with the recognition of power of attorney, Section 34 provides for enquiry before the registration by the registering officer and Section 35 contains procedure on admission and denial of execution respectively. Part-XI of the Registration Act, 1908 deals with the powers of the Registering authority. The Rules under the Act are framed by the State Government and Rule 26 deals with the manner of examination of the document by the registering officer. It is stated that none of the provisions of the Registration Act, 1908 and the Rules made thereunder casts any obligation on the parties to the document to produce any other documents like pattadar pass book/title deed along with the document sought to be registered for the purpose of registration. In the said Act or Rules, even there is no whisper of necessary obligation for production of any other documents along with the document sought to be registered. Thus there is no obligation on the part of the parties to produce the title deed and pattadar pass book at the time of registration of the agricultural land nor the registering authority can insist on such production at the time of registration.