Expert explains

CHENNAI: We are a Hindu family — my widowed mother, five sisters and me. Our father had given all of us adequate property and got us married. He died in July 1998, leaving behind a property in the city and some agricultural land. My sisters decided to renounce my father’s properties. My mother and I have been enjoying these properties from 1998 to this date paying all taxes, without any hindrance.

I have one son and he is married. In April 2017, we decided to register the property by a ‘deed of partition-cum-release’ dividing it into three shares — ‘A’ schedule to my mother, ‘B’ schedule to me and ‘C’ schedule to my son. A registration fee of `2,00,000 was paid as registration fees and all of us signed in presence of the sub-registrar. Later, I came to know that the registration fees was only Rs 25,000 irrespective of the number of persons who signed, and we had multiplied this amount by eight because of the ignorance of the advocate, who prepared the deed and assisted in the registration.

When I went to collect the registered document, I was told by the sub-registrar that the document was kept pending. Later, I was told that my son did not have a right in property as legal heir, and the transaction would be treated as a sale deed and that I should pay an abnormal amount based on the market value, and that a survey would be done by the district registrar. Can we file a writ petition to the sub-registrar to register the document , and praying for direction? Or can we ignore the previous pending registration and make a fresh deed, annexing the ‘C’ schedule property allotted to my son to the ‘B’ schedule, paying a fresh registration fee of Rs 25,000?

— KS KUMAR, CHENNAI Take return of the deed presented for registration and file a rectification deed
along with the original deed and then get it registered.

My son purchased a plot of land jointly with his friend on a 50-50 sharing basis. The friend paid the initial amount and hence he registered the plot in his name. The balance amount was financed by a bank. My son agreed to this deal as he had faith in the friend.

My son has been paying the instalments for the bank loan. Now he has already paid 50% of the cost of the land but the documents are all under hypothecation to the bank in the name of his friend. What should my son do to get his name into the records so that he gets the recognition of his 50% stake in the property?

— SS BIJU, CHENNAI If your son’s friend is agreeing to co-operate, ask him to execute a second hypothecation deed in favour of your son towards the 50% sale consideration paid by him. The bank cannot object if the hypothecation deed mentions that the first hypothecation was with the bank. Otherwise, your son will have to file a civil suit against his friend and get appropriate declaration and injunction for getting title to the property.

JUSTICE K CHANDRU
@expertexplains@gmail.com
is a former judge of the Madras High Court