Administrative authorities can’t cancel registered sale deed: Allahabad HC

A registered instrument such as sale deed can only be cancelled by a competent court of law and not by an administrative authority, the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court (HC) has ruled.

“It is a settled law that a registered instrument can not be cancelled by the authorities on the administrative side and the same has to be cancelled by initiating a proceeding before the competent court of law,” the two-judge Bench of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Manish Kumar of the high court said in its order dated October 3, 2023.

The court was passing its verdict in the Vijay Kumar Varma versus UP Awas Eyam Vikas (through chairman/HC) Parishad and 3 Others

Vijay Kumar Varma versus UP Awas Eyam Vikas Parishad and 3 Others case

Vijay Kumar Varma had purchased the said house by a registered sale deed dated November 8, 1996, from the husband of an original allottee, Subhawati, after her demise. The Avas Vikas Parishad without issuing any show-cause notice or without providing any opportunity of hearing cancelled the sale deed executed in favour of the petitioner.

A writ petition was moved by petitioner Vijay Kumar Varma for quashing of the impugned order dated 17 February 2004 by which a registered sale deed in favour of Varma was cancelled. Another order passed in March that year directed the petitioner to hand-over the possession of property in question to the UP Avas Evam Vikas Parishad.

The court relied on its earlier order passed in the Kusum Lata versus State of UP & 3 others, and quashed the order.

“Prior to the passing of the impugned order, at no point of time, neither any show-cause notice was issued to the petitioner nor any opportunity of hearing was given,” the HC added while allowing the writ petition.

In 2022, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court in 2022 said that the stamp and registration department had no power to cancel a sale or conveyance deed that has been registered following the prescribed rules.

“The Registration Act (1907) does not deal with unilateral cancellation of a sale deed. The Act does not confer any power to the registrar to cancel a document which had been registered as per the Act,” said the 3-judge Bench, comprising Justice SS Sundar, Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice R Vijyakumar.

“The registrar has no power to accept the deed of cancellation to nullify the deed of conveyance made earlier, when the deed of conveyance has already been acted upon by the transferee,” it added while referring to several previous judgments passed by the apex court in cases pertaining to the same issue.