Such scrutiny does not, by itself, amount to adjudication of civil rights or title, the court said. Chennai: Madras high court has clarified that a registering authority (sub-registrar) has the power to examine the genuineness of documents and verify whether the person presenting a document has the right to seek its registration.
The court further pointed out that under Section 77(1) of the Act, if a registrar refuses to order registration of a document, the aggrieved person can approach the civil court within 30 days. Therefore, authorities have been conferred with the power to examine documents and ascertain the right of a person to register documents,” the judges said.
A division bench of Justice S M Subramaniam and Justice R Rajesh Vivekananthan said an aggrieved person can approach only a civil court for a remedy and not a writ court. “A registering authority under the Registration Act is empowered to verify the genuineness of documents presented for registration and the rights of the presenter for registration of documents presented,” the court said. A conclusion made in an administrative order passed under the Registration Act would not be a ground to claim title or ownership before a civil court or before any other forum, the court said.
The court made these observations while allowing an appeal by the Chengalpet sub-registrar challenging a single judge‘s order directing the authority to register a power of attorney based on an unregistered will. “Any registration of documents would lead to transfer of rights, title, and ownership.