Procedure After Admission to Registration under Sections 58 to 63 of the Registration Act, 1908: The Endorsements, the Certificate, Completion and Return of the Document, Documents in an Unknown Language, and the Power to Administer Oaths

Once execution has been admitted, the document is not yet registered. Sections 58 to 63 carry it the rest of the way. Section 58 requires the officer to endorse on it who admitted execution, who was examined, and what money or goods changed hands in his presence. Section 59 requires him to date and sign those endorsements, and Section 60 to affix the certificate containing the word registered. Section 61 requires them all to be copied into the margin of the register, at which point registration is complete and the document is returned.

The six steps from admission to return, and what the certificate proves

1. The Endorsements: Sections 58 and 59

Section 58, Registration Act, 1908, in substance

(1) On every document admitted to registration, other than a copy of a decree or order or a copy sent under Section 89, there shall be endorsed:

(a) the signature and addition of every person admitting the execution of the document, and, where execution has been admitted by a representative, assign or agent, the signature and addition of that person;

(b) the signature and addition of every person examined in reference to the document under any provision of the Act; and

(c) any payment of money or delivery of goods made in the presence of the registering officer in reference to the execution, and any admission of receipt of consideration, in whole or in part, made in his presence.

(2) If any person admitting execution refuses to endorse the document, the registering officer shall nevertheless register it, but shall at the same time endorse a note of such refusal.

Clause (c) is the valuable one in practice. An endorsement that the price was paid in the officer's presence, or that receipt of consideration was admitted before him, is strong evidence in a later dispute about payment.
Refusal to sign does not defeat registration. The officer registers and notes the refusal, so an executant cannot undo his admission by declining to sign.
Section 59 requires the officer to affix the date and his signature to all endorsements made under Sections 52 and 58 relating to the same document and made in his presence on the same day.

2. The Certificate and Completion: Sections 60 and 61

Sections 60 and 61, Registration Act, 1908, in substance

60. (1) After the applicable provisions of Sections 34, 35, 58 and 59 have been complied with, the registering officer shall endorse a certificate containing the word “registered”, together with the number and page of the book in which the document has been copied.

(2) Such certificate shall be signed, sealed and dated by the registering officer, and shall then be admissible for the purpose of proving that the document has been duly registered in the manner provided by this Act, and that the facts mentioned in the endorsements referred to in Section 59 have occurred as therein mentioned.

61. (1) The endorsements and certificate shall thereupon be copied into the margin of the register book, and the copy of any map or plan mentioned in Section 21 shall be filed in Book 1.

(2) The registration of the document shall thereupon be deemed complete, and the document shall then be returned to the person who presented it, or to such other person as he has nominated in writing on the receipt mentioned in Section 52.

📖 Prem Singh v. Birbal, (2006) 5 SCC 353

Facts: A registered sale deed was challenged as void, and the question arose as to the weight attaching to a document that has been registered, and on whom the burden lies when it is attacked.

Held: The Supreme Court observed that there is a presumption that a registered document is validly executed, and that a registered instrument carries with it a presumption of correctness. The burden lies on the person who challenges it to show that it is not genuine or is otherwise invalid.

Ratio: Registration and the statutory endorsements raise a presumption of due execution and correctness, which the party attacking the document must displace. Citation to be verified before publication.

3. The Presumption and Its Limits

What the certificate proves is what Section 60(2) says: that the document was duly registered, and that the facts in the endorsements occurred as stated. That covers the appearance of the executants, the admission of execution, and any payment made in the officer's presence.
What it does not prove is the genuineness of the transaction, the executant's title or authority, or the truth of the recitals in the document.
Impersonation defeats it. Where the person who appeared was not the executant at all, the endorsements record the appearance of an impostor, and the document conveys nothing.
The presumption is rebuttable, and the burden of displacing it lies on the challenger.

4. Unknown Language and Oaths: Sections 62 and 63

Section 62 deals with the document presented under Section 19 with a translation. The translation is transcribed in the register of documents of that nature, and together with the copy is filed in the office. The endorsements and certificate are made on the original, and for the purpose of the copies and memoranda required by Sections 57, 64, 65 and 66, the translation is treated as if it were the original.
Section 63 allows every registering officer, at his discretion, to administer an oath to any person examined under the Act, and to record the substance of the statement made. The exercise of that discretion is regulated by rules made under Section 69(e).
Why an oath matters. Where execution is disputed, or identity is uncertain, a statement on oath carries the consequences of a false statement, including the offences in Sections 81 to 83 and under the general criminal law.

5. The Position Stated Shortly

Section 58: the officer endorses the signature and addition of every person admitting execution or examined, and any payment, delivery or admission of consideration made in his presence.
Section 58(2): a refusal to sign does not prevent registration; the officer notes the refusal.
Section 59: the endorsements are dated and signed by the officer.
Section 60: a certificate containing the word registered, with the book number and page, signed, sealed and dated.
Section 60(2): the certificate proves due registration and that the endorsed facts occurred.
Section 61: the endorsements and certificate are copied into the margin, registration is complete, and the document is returned.
Prem Singh v. Birbal: a registered document carries a presumption of valid execution, rebuttable by the challenger.
Sections 62 and 63: the translation is transcribed and treated as the original for copies, and the officer may administer oaths.