Taking serious note of sub-registrars refusing to update records despite binding court orders in two cases, the High Court of Karnataka (HCK) reminded registration authorities that they cannot sit in appeal over judicial decisions or demand separate directions addressed to them when litigants produce certified copies of duly passed court decrees, and cautioned that such conduct amounts to defiance of law and binding judicial mandates.
“The function of the sub-registrar in such circumstances is purely ministerial. The registering authority cannot sit in appeal over the decree of a competent court nor can it insist upon procedural formalities which effectively render the decree nugatory,” the HCK observed.
Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum made these observations while allowing two separate writ petitions, which complained about failure of the sub-registrars to honour directions of a civil court in Bengaluru to cancel registered General Power of Attorney (GPA) and Joint Development Agreement (JDA), and to fail to cancel sale deed of certain properties related to insolvency proceedings despite directions given by the Bombay High Court (BHC).
Case background
In the first petition, the court quashed an endorsement issued by the Mahadevapura sub-registrar, who had refused to record the cancellation of the JDA and GPA despite the petitioner, Antony Samy K., a 68-year-old property owner, producing a certified copy of a decree from a Bengaluru Commercial Court declaring the documents terminated.
