AKKI GURU BASAPPA Vs. VULUVATHI SETRA SANTHAPPA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The only point raised in this Letters Patent Appeal is "Is a sale deed executed before but registered after the filing of a suit affected by the doctrine of Us pendens?"

(2.) The contention of Mr. Narasimhachari for the appellant is that on the date of the filing of the plaint, the property had not passed to the plaintiff inasmuch as the sale deed was not registered and that the registration of the sale deed, subsequent to the filing of the plaint, amounted to a transfer of the property in suit and therefore Sec. 52 of the Transfer of Property Act applies to the case. In the case of a conveyance or a document creating title to immoveable property registration is necessary to give validity to such document but the question is whether a document creates title from the date of its execution ox whether it creates title only from the date of its registration. Section 47 of the Indian Registration Act makes it clear that " a registered document shall operate from the time from which it would have commenced to operate if no registration thereof had been required or made, and not from the time of its registration. " In a competition between two documents creating title to immoveable property the document earlier in date has precedence over another document later in date but registered before the former document. It is not the registration of a document which operates to create title but it is the document itself. The Registration Act makes valid such documents as soon as they are registered but the right conveyed or transferred is the right which exists in the transferor on the date of the document. When the document is presented for registration the executant simply admits execution whereupon the document is registered and if the executant does not admit execution or if he refuses to appear before the Registrar the law provides for compulsory registration of the document. In such a case it cannot be said that the executant by any act of his gives validity to the document.

(3.) The contention of Mr. Narasimhachari is that a sale can be effected only by a registered instrument and that before the date of registration there was no sale and therefore the suit which was filed before the date of registration does stand in the way of the executant registering the document. This argument overlooks the fact that the vendee has a right to compel a vendor to execute a sale deed in his favour and if he refuses to ask the Court to execute the document. If a document has already been executed, he could present it for registration within four months and if no document had been executed he could sue for specific performance of the contract of sale. Such a. contract would not be affected by the doctrine of lis pendens on account of the filing of a suit subsequent to its date.