GO 84: HC stays Telangana government order tweaking land regularisation rules

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Monday stayed the government order that regularised sale transactions through unregistered documents.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Sravan Kumar, passed the order while saying, “Prima Facie, the GO 84 is beyond the scope of Section 9 of the Indian Stamps Act, 1899 and hence stayed.”

The BRS government issued the GO on 27 July this year through the Revenue (Registration-I) Department, regularising the sale transactions executed and concluded only by way of unregistered documents with the attestation of notary in respect of non-agricultural urban properties in the State of Telangana, which includes the properties listed as Prohibited Properties under Section 22A of the Registration Act, 1908.

This action by the state has a drastic effect of overriding the statutory provisions including the Transfer of Property Act.

The counsel for the petitioner informed the CJ Court that this relaxation paves the way for unscrupulous individuals, who obtained properties through unlawful means and will definitely hit the innocent parties, who had purchased lands by investing their hard-earned money.

The said GO further granted full exemption from stamp duty and penalty on all properties constructed within the area of 125 square yards or below, thereby depriving the state exchequer of the required revenue.

The counsel further informed the court that the Transfer of Property Act, 1882; Registration Act, 1908; and the Indian Stamp Act, 1999 clearly established that a transfer of immovable property by way of sale can only be made by way of a sale deed or deed of conveyance, which is duly stamped and registered within a period of four plus four months, only from the date of execution.

But GO 84 has come up with regularising sale transactions executed by way of unregistered documents is in sheer violation of the Central Legislations cited, the court was told. The GO effectively overrides the provisions of the Central Acts and it exceeds the authority delegated to the state government.

The Division Bench was adjudicating the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the Bhagyanagar Citizens Welfare Association in Bharath Nagar, Hyderabad, seeking a direction to set aside GO 84 issued by the state government.