C. Arumugam v. The Inspector General Of

BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT DATED : 16.06.2023

CORAM:

THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE B.PUGALENDHI and MP(MD)No.1 of 2014 C.Arumugam ... Petitioner v.

1.The Inspector General of Registration, Santhome, Chennai.

2.The District Registrar, Sivagangai District, Sivagangai.

3.The Sub Registrar, Madagupatti Registration Office, Madagupatti.

4.Palaniappa Chettiar 5.Chidambaram 6.Arunachalam 7.Meenambal 1/6

8.Thilagavathi 9.Kannathal 10.Chidambram 11.S.Shithicrajan 12.V.Seethalakshmi ... Respondents Writ Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking issuance of a Writ of Mandamus directing the second respondent to annul the sale deeds in Doc.No.926 of 2014 & 969 of 2014 on the file of the third respondent in the light of the Circular issued by the first respondent in Circular No.67 dated 03.11.2011 by considering the petitioner's complaint dated 18.09.2014.

For Petitioner : Mr.A.P.Muthupandian For Respondents : Mr.P.T.Thiraviam, Government Advocate for R.1 to R.3 Mr.S.Srinivasa Ragavan for R.4 to R.12 *****

ORDER

The petitioner filed this writ petition for a mandamus directing the second respondent to consider his representation dated 18.09.2014 and to 2/6

cancel the sale deed in Doc.Nos.926 of 2014 & 969 of 2014, on the file of the third respondent in the light of Circular No.67, dated 03.11.2011 issued by the first respondent.

2.The Inspector General of Registration vide his proceedings in letter No. 41530/u1/2017 dated 20.10.2017 has withdrawn the Circular No.67 and the District Registrars were also informed to return the petitions received under Circular No.67, subsequent to the decision of Hon'ble Supreme Court in Satya Pal Anand v. State of M.P., [(2016) 10 SCC 767]. In the said decision, the Hon'ble Supreme Court has held that the power to cancel the registration is a substantive matter and in the absence of any express provision on that behalf, it is not open to assume that the Registering Officer would be competent to cancel the registration of the documents in question.

3.Thereafter, for cancellation of registered documents, the State of Tamil Nadu brought an amendment to the Registration Act vide the Registration (Tamil Nadu Second Amendment) Act, 2021. By this amendment, Sections 22B, 77A, 77B, 81A and 81B were inserted in the Registration Act. Section 77A provides the power to the Registrar to cancel the registered documents, if found to be 3/6

fraudulent. However, this Court in S.M. Hajabakrutheen v. The Inspector General of Registration [W.P.(MD)Nos.14546 of 2022, etc., batch dated 27.03.2023] has referred the issue regarding the applicability of Section 77A of the Act to the documents that were registered prior to its enactment, for consideration by a Larger Bench of this Court.

4.In view of the above position, this writ petition is disposed with a liberty to the petitioner to approach the competent civil Court. If any suit is filed by the petitioner, the same shall be entertained by the civil Court by excluding the period for which this writ petition was pending before this Court for the purpose of calculating the limitation period. Liberty is also granted to the writ petitioner to invoke Section 77A of the Act upon the outcome of the reference made. There shall be no order as to costs. Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.

Index :

Yes / No 16.06.2023 NCC :

Yes / No gk 4/6

To 1.The Inspector General of Registration, Santhome, Chennai.

2.The District Registrar, Sivagangai District, Sivagangai.

3.The Sub Registrar, Madagupatti Registration Office, Madagupatti.

5/6

B.PUGALENDHI, J.

gk 16.06.2023 6/6