Chandigarh admn can’t reject sales deed applications without valid reason: High court

However, soon after the notification, the online facility to register properties was closed and the UT sub-registrar’s office also stopped accepting applications physically, leaving applicants in the lurch

The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the sub-registrar, Chandigarh administration, to accept the conveyance deed of a city resident and take a final decision on it.

Chandigarh administration on March 25 had notified revised collector rates for the city with effect from April 1, as per which fee for registration of property would be up three times higher. (iStock)

“..the sub-registrar does not have the authority to outrightly reject the documents. Instead, they are duty-bound to either register the document or reject it with a valid reason through a speaking order,” the bench of justice Kuldeep Tiwari observed while dealing with a plea from a city resident on the issue of revised collector rates notification.

The city administration on March 25 had notified revised collector rates for the city with effect from April 1, as per which fee for registration of property would be up three times higher. However, soon after the notification, the online facility to register properties was closed and the sub-registrar’s office also stopped accepting applications physically, leaving applicants in the lurch.

City resident Seema Arora approached the court against this, stating that she had procured the no-objection certificate (NOC) on March 21 and the stamp duty was also paid on March 24. However, due to the non-functional website, the documents could not be registered. The sub-registrar, when approached, refused to accept the documents offline and now she would be burdened with additional fee due to revised collector rates.