D.Ragothaman v. The Inspector General Of Registration

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS

DATED: 11-06-2026

CORAM

THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE KRISHNAN RAMASAMY AND WMP NO. 23318 OF 2026 D.Ragothaman, S/o late S. Durairaj, No 11-C Nelvoyal Nagar, Muthumariyamman Koil Street, Perambur, Chennai 600 011.

..Petitioner(s) Vs

1. The Inspector General of Registration, The Inspector General of Registration, Office at No 100 Santhome High Raod, Chennai 600 028.

2. The District Registrar, The District Registrars Office, Villupuram District.

3. The Sub Registrar, S.R.O at Thirukovilur, Kalljurichi District.

4. D. Sridharan, S/o late S. Duraraj, residing at Perumal Koil Street, C. Meyyur Village and Post, Thiruvennai Nallur Taluk, Villupuram District 605 803.

5. D. Nandakumar S/o late S. Duraraj, Residing at Perumal Koil street, C. Meyyur Village and Post, Thiruvennai Nallur Taluk, Villupuram District 605 803.

..Respondent(s) PRAYER:- Writ petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for an issuance of Writ of Mandamus, directing 1st and 2nd respondents to conduct enquiry under Section 83 of Tamil Nadu Registration Act based on the Document No 3083 of 2019, 3084 of 2019, Document No 3741 of 2019 stands in the name of 4th and 5th respondents, registered by 3rd respondent and consequentially forbearing the 3rd respondent from registering any sale deed or any type of deeds in cane of 4th and 5th respondents presenting for registration.

For Petitioner(s):

Mr.P.Britto For Respondent(s):

Mr.M.Roshan Atiq.

Govt's Counsel For R1 to R3 Order This writ petition has been filed seeking to direct the respondents 1 and 2 to conduct enquiry under Section 83 of Tamil Nadu Registration Act, on the registration of Document Nos.3083 & 3084 of 2019 dated 24.06.2019 and 3741 of 2019 dated 16.08.2019, which stand in the name of respondents 4 and 5, registered by the 3rd respondent and to forbear the 3rd respondent from registering any further documents based on the aforesaid settlement deeds. 2.Learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the properties measuring to an extent of approximately 15 acres situated at C.Meyyur Village

and Post, Thiruvennai Nallur Taluk, Villupuram District belong to the petitioner's father. The respondents 4 and 5, who are the brothers of the petitioner forcibly obtained thumb impression from the petitioner's father and registered three settlement deeds in Doc.Nos.3083 & 3084 of 2019 dated 24.06.2019 and Doc.No.3741 of 2019 dated 16.08.2019 in there favour. The aforesaid settlement deeds were registered before the 3rd respondent and the petitioner was not aware of the same. After getting knowledge about the same, the petitioner through a notice dated 25.03.2026 requested the respondents 1 to 3 to conduct enquiry regarding the aforesaid fraudulently registered settlement deeds under Section 83 of the Tamil Nadu Registration Act. Till date no action was taken by the respondents 1 to 3. Hence, the present writ petition has been filed.

3.Per contra, learned Government's counsel appearing for the respondents 1 to 3 would submit that in this case, the offence said to have been occurred in the year 2019. The petitioner came to know about the said offence belatedly and thereafter through notice dated 25.03.2026 requested the respondents 1 to 3 to take action in terms of Section 83 of the Registration Act. He would further submit that as far as the provisions of Section 82 & 83 is concerned, if the fraud committed by the offenders while executing any document and it came to the knowledge of the Revenue Authorities at the time of registration, certainly, the said Authorities will conduct enquiry and file a complaint against the offenders

in terms of Section 82 & 83 of the Registration Act. However, in this case, the Revenue Authorities had no knowledge with regard to the offences at the time of registration, i.e., in the year 2019. Even the petitioner came to know about the said offence belatedly. Under these circumstances, the petitioner has supposed to file a criminal complaint to initiate proceedings against the offenders in terms of Section 82 & 83 of the Registration Act. Hence, he prayed for dismissal of the present writ petition. 4.Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner as well as the learned Government's counsel appearing for the respondents 1 to 3 and perused the materials available on record.

5.Considering the submissions made by both parties, this Court is of the view that as rightly contended by the learned Government's counsel appearing for the respondents 1 to 3, the jurisdiction of the Revenue officials to conduct enquiry in terms of Section 82 & 83 will apply to the cases, where the Revenue Officials gets knowledge about the offence during the registration of the document and the concerned affected parties have no knowledge with regard to the offence/fraudulent act involved in executing the deed/documents. However, in this case, the offence committed by the respondents 4 and 5 in executing the sale deeds dated 24.06.2019 & 16.08.2019, came to the knowledge of the affected party, who is none other than the petitioner. In such case, the petitioner

can very well file a criminal complaint against the offenders in terms of Section 82 & 83 of the Registration Act. In very many cases, this Court had held that there is no necessity for the affected persons to file a representation before the Registering Authorities, instead he/she can very well file a criminal complaint against the offenders in terms of Section 82 & 83 of the Registration Act. The said aspect was also held by the Hon'ble Apex Court in Dharmarao Rai vs. Ramnagina Rai reported in (1972) 1 SCC 460.

6.In view of the above, this writ petition is dismissed granting liberty to the petitioner to file a criminal complaint against the offenders in terms of Section 82 & 83 of the Registration Act. No costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

11-06-2026 Index: Yes/No Speaking/Non-speaking order rst

To

1. The Inspector General of Registration, The Inspector General of Registration, Office at No 100 Santhome High Road, Chennai 600 028.

2. The District Registrar, The District Registrars Office, Villupuram District.

3. The Sub Registrar, S.R.O at Thirukovilur, Kalljurichi District.

KRISHNAN RAMASAMY J.

rst AND WMP NO. 23318 OF 2026 11-06-2026