Telangana High Court lifts curbs on plot registrations

Hyderabad: In a relief to plot-owners who have been denied registration of land if it is situated in unauthorised and unapproved layouts, the Telangana High Court directed sub-registrars to register documents of sale, transfer and gift presented for registration, subject to certain conditions.

The order was passed by Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy in the face of about 5,000 petitions regarding the non-registration of land and buildings.

The court said that the registration would be done without reference to Memo No.s. G2/257/2019 dated August 26 and December 12, 2020, was issued by the commissioner and inspector general, registration and stamps department, regarding the matter.

Justice Vijaysen Reddy said the sub-registrars should shall make an endorsement at the reverse of the first page of the document that the registration is subject to the outcome of SLP (Civil) No. 19695 of 2021 filed by the state government before the Supreme Court with regard to registration of such properties.

The sub-registrar will caution those seeking registration of the consequences of violation of law like plots, lands or structures being located in full tank level (FTL) or buffer zone of lakes, plots having less than 30-feet wide access roads. The land must also meet relevant statutory provisions,

The issue arose from Section 178(3) of the Telangana Municipalities Act, 2019 which states: "The Registration Authority shall not register any building or structure or part of the building without the production of a sanctioned plan approved by the municipality..." Section 113 (8) of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, mandated that no piece of land for building purpose shall be sold by any owner or developer which is not a part of an approval layout.

Following this, the commissioner of registration issued Memo G2/257/2019 dated August 26, 2020, directing authorities to register only plots in approved and authorised layouts. Plots which are regularised under the land regularisation scheme (LRS) can also be registered.

The memo said that plots in unauthorised layouts shall not be registered even though the same plot was registered earlier. The memo also said that only houses, buildings, apartments (flats) or any structures shall be registered only if they have the approval or permission. Earlier registration of the structure will not make it registerable now, it said.

In order to obviate any hardship relating to the registration of documents, a clarification was issued on December 29, 2020, stating that there is no restriction on registration of plots in authorised layouts,   plots regularised under earlier LRS and buildings or structures covered under building penalisation or registration schemes.

The clarificatory memo said registration of new plots in unauthorised layouts was prohibited. No "new plot" shall be registered unless it has been approved by the competent authority or is in an authorised layout. New plot would mean a fresh plot which is being brought for registration for the first time or being sold by developers for the first time.

The issue went to the High Court and the Supreme Court, and registration authorities have been refusing registration of such properties and around 5,000 petitions have been filed before the High Court.