Haryana cites malpractices; halts registration of land transfer deeds

The Haryana government has temporarily halted the registration of the land transfer deeds in the state. These directions were issued by the Haryana government, to all deputy commissioners and other relevant officials, including tehsildars-cum-sub-registrars, on Tuesday, i.e. July 21.

The registration of the transfer deeds of various categories of land won’t take place for some period of time. The interim period for which there won’t be any registration, is kept different for different categories of land, falling between July 22 and August 15.

Why is the registration being stopped?

This measure is being taken in order to wipe out the malpractices prevalent in the registration system.

The Financial Commissioner (Revenue) of the State, Vijai Vardhan, said that the “stoppage of registration of transfer deeds under the Registration Act, 1908” is an interim measure. He added that “the state government has given serious considerations to the complaints of malpractices that exist in the current mechanism for registration of deeds for the transfer of land. Therefore, it has been decided to temporarily halt the registration of transfer deeds under the said Act”.

Vijaii Vardhan also added, “To build a technology and data-based mechanism to curb and curtail possible malpractices and to ensure system-readiness for the purpose, the government has decided as an interim measure for a short duration, to temporarily halt the registration of deeds relating to the transfer of land, with effect from July 22, while gearing up the technology and process-based system to be put in place for curbing malpractices,”

What is period for which the registration is being stopped?

· For the land within the municipal limits, urban areas, as declared and notified under the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975 and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963, no registration of transfer of

deeds of the land shall be done by the Sub-Registrar/Joint Sub-Registrar from July 22 to August 5.

· For the lands situated in the rural areas, the revenue department has put an embargo on the registration of properties from July 22 to July 29.

· For the land situated in urban areas, as declared or notified under Section 7-A of the Haryana Development and Regulation of Urban Areas Act, 1975, the registration will halt from July 22 to August 15.

· The e-appointments for the deed registration have also been cancelled.

· Wherever the e-stamp challans have been generated, an extension of 30 days will be given for those challans, whose validity of 180 days expires between July 22 and August 17.

· However, for those possessing registered sale agreements between buyer and seller for transfer of land, executed before July 22, and as per terms and conditions of the said agreement, such deeds may be allowed to be registered by the Sub-Registrar/Joint Sub-Registrar of the concerned districts in writing in each case.

The decision will impact the sale and purchase of land in the State of Haryana, for a temporary period of time. What technological measures and systems will come into place, is to be seen. Given the amount of corruption and malpractices that exist in the system, it might just be worth it.