CHENNAI: Veteran Tamil and Telugu actress Vanishree was among the five land owners to whom Chief Minister M K Stalin handed over documents relating to their properties that were usurped through fraudulent registration that were cancelled under the new law brought in by the government.
Coming out of the Secretariat, after receiving the property documents on Wednesday, a relieved Vanishree told the media that when she learnt that her land worth Rs 20 lakh had been taken away through illegal registration carried out by land sharks, she thought that the property was lost forever.
She thanked the Chief Minister for bringing in the new law enabling retrieval of the land by cancelling the fraudulent registration and issuing fresh orders to the rightful owners.
“I ran from pillar to post for 11 years. When I thought I won't spend a penny more, Chief Minister has shown the way. He should lead a long life and continue to deliver good governance, ” she said.
The event at the Secretariat marked the empowering of the registration department to cancel all illegal land transactions carried out in the State and the introduction of a tatkal token system for registering properties on days when there was a rush for registration and a facility to seek changes in marriage certificates through an online application.
Hitherto, according to the Registration Act of 1908, no officer was empowered to cancel a property registration, which left the affected persons with no option other than approaching the courts for remedy, an official press release said.
So, to amend the law brought into force in 1908, the State Assembly passed a Bill in September 2021 and it received Presidential approval on August 6, 2022. As per the amendment, registration officers were given the powers to cancel the property transactions done with the help of fabricated and illegal documents.
Also the amendment empowered the district registrars to take cognizance of complaints on fraudulent registrations, hold an enquiry with the complainant and defendant and cancel the registration if it was found to be done through fraudulent means.
The new law also provides for taking action against those acquiring the property through illegal means and the registrar who did the documentation without proper verification of facts or with an ulterior motive, the press release said.
Based on the new law, five property registrations were cancelled and the rightful owners, including actress Vanishree, were handed over the documents relating to their land by the Chief Minister.
The new tatkal token system was to help people do the property registration on the days of their choice by paying Rs 5000 online through https://tnreginet.gov.in and obtaining a priority token. The same system would also help those seeking to register properties urgently jump the queue and it was introduced in registration offices on Wednesday.
Another new facility that came into force was the online application seeking changes in marriage certificates issued by the registrar office. Since the certificates issued under various marriage acts at times had discrepancies in the spelling of names and some dates and created problems for the holders when they apply for a passport, the online application would help them sort it out without visiting the registration office.
