Law of Registration
The Certificate of Registration and a Document of Title: What Section 60 Certifies, and What It Does Not
The endorsement bearing the word "registered", made under Section 60, is the last act of the registering officer, and it is very often mistaken for something it is not. It certifies a procedure completed: that the requirements of Sections 34, 35, 58 and 59 have been complied with, and that the facts recorded in the Section 59 endorsements occurred as recorded. It certifies nothing about title. Title comes from the deed and from the substantive law that governs the deed, and no certificate issued by a registration office can supply what the executant did not have.
The certificate and the deed: who makes each, and what each proves
1. The Certificate
Section 60, Registration Act, 1908 60. Certificate of registration. (1) After such of the provisions of sections 34, 35, 58 and 59 as apply to any document presented for registration have been complied with, the registering officer shall endorse thereon 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 manner provided by this Act, and that the facts mentioned in the endorsements referred to in section 59 have occurred as therein mentioned. |
- It comes last. The certificate is endorsed only after the provisions on appearance, admission of execution and the endorsements have been complied with.
- It carries the book and page. That is what allows the document to be traced in the register, and a certified copy to be obtained under Section 57.
- It must be signed, sealed and dated. Those formalities are what give the certificate its evidentiary force.
- It proves two things and no more. That the document has been duly registered in the manner provided by the Act, and that the facts in the Section 59 endorsements occurred as mentioned.
- The Section 59 endorsements are the officer's own record of his own acts. Under Section 59 he dates and signs each endorsement made under Sections 52 and 58.
- Nothing in the section speaks of title, of the executant's ownership, or of the genuineness or validity of the deed.
2. The Endorsements Behind It
The provision | What is endorsed | What it records |
Section 52(1)(a) | The day, hour and place of presentation, and the signature of the person presenting | That the document was presented, when, and by whom |
Section 58(1)(a) | The signature and addition of every person admitting execution | That execution was admitted, and by whom |
Section 58(1)(b) | The signature and addition of every person examined with reference to the document | That the identifying witnesses were examined |
Section 58(1)(c) | Any payment of money or delivery of goods made in the presence of the officer, and any admission of receipt of consideration | That consideration was paid or its receipt admitted, where that happened before him |
Section 59 | The date and signature of the registering officer on each endorsement | That the officer made each endorsement, and when |
Section 60 | The word "registered", with the number and page of the book | That registration is complete, and where the copy may be found |
3. The Two Compared
The Section 60 certificate | A document of title | |
What it is | An endorsement bearing the word "registered", with the number and page of the book | The instrument by which an interest in the property is created or transferred |
Who makes it | The registering officer | The parties, by execution |
When | After Sections 34, 35, 58 and 59 have been complied with | On execution; once registered it operates from that date under Section 47 |
What it proves | That the document has been duly registered, and that the facts in the Section 59 endorsements occurred | It is the transfer, but its effect depends on the executant's title and on the substantive law |
What it does not prove | That the executant owned the property, or that the deed is genuine or valid | It is not conclusive of title either; it is one link in a chain |
The enquiry behind it | Execution, identity and the right to appear, Section 34(3) | No enquiry into title is made, or is possible, at the registry |
If the deed is a forgery | The certificate still stands on its face; it certifies procedure | The deed passes nothing, and no certificate alters that |
How it is challenged | It is not; the objection is to the deed, in a civil suit | By a suit for cancellation under Section 31 of the Specific Relief Act, 1963, or by pleading that it is void |
Who can undo it | Nobody. The officer is functus officio: Satya Pal Anand | The civil court, on a decree under Section 31 |
4. The Two Decisions That Settle the Point
📖 Suraj Lamp and Industries (P) Ltd. v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656 Facts The Court considered the practice, widespread in parts of north India, of transferring immovable property by a general power of attorney together with an agreement to sell and a will, so as to avoid stamp duty and registration. Held These transactions do not convey title. A transfer of immovable property can be effected only by a registered deed of conveyance, save where the substantive law itself permits another mode. Ratio Title in immovable property passes by a registered instrument of transfer. Neither an agreement to sell, nor a power of attorney, nor a will, whether registered or not, effects a transfer of title, and a person holding such documents holds no title to convey. |
📖 Satya Pal Anand v. State of Madhya Pradesh, (2016) 10 SCC 767 Facts A party sought to have a registered document removed from the register by the registering authority itself, on the footing that the document was bad. Held The registering officer had no such power. Once registration is complete he is functus officio, and the Act contains no provision enabling him to cancel or recall the entry. Ratio The registering officer's function is ministerial in this respect. The validity of a registered instrument is a matter for the civil court, and the officer's part after a decree of cancellation is confined to noting the fact in his books under Section 31(2) of the Specific Relief Act, 1963. |
5. What a Chain of Title Is Actually Built From
1. The deeds themselves, each a registered instrument of transfer, traced back as far as the prudent purchaser requires.
2. The register, searched through Book 1 and its index under Section 57(1), to see what else affecting the property has been registered.
3. The encumbrance position, drawn from the same search, showing mortgages, leases and charges registered against the property.
4. The revenue record, which shows who is recorded as liable to pay land revenue, and which neither creates nor extinguishes title.
5. The devolution on death, proved by succession, a will, or a grant of probate or letters of administration where one is required.
6. The certificate under Section 60 on each deed, which confirms that each of those instruments went through the registry, and nothing beyond that.
7. And a search of the litigation, since a decree, an attachment or a pending suit may affect the property without appearing on the deed.
6. Why the Confusion Arises
⚠ The word "registered" is doing less work than it appears to The certificate is the most conspicuous thing on the completed deed. It carries a seal, a signature, a date and an official word, and it is natural to read it as an official endorsement of the transaction. It is not. Section 34(3) sets out the whole of the officer's enquiry: whether the document was executed by the persons by whom it purports to have been executed, the identity of the persons appearing, and the right of a person appearing as a representative, assign or agent to appear. There is no fourth head, and no enquiry into whether the executant owned what he was purporting to transfer. A registering officer confronted with a sale deed executed by a stranger to the title, presented and admitted in due form, must register it. The remedy for the true owner is a suit, not a complaint to the registry. |
7. The Common Errors
- Supposing that the certificate proves the deed to be genuine. It certifies the procedure, not the document's truth.
- Supposing that the registering officer has examined the title. Section 34(3) shows the limits of his enquiry.
- Supposing that a registered deed cannot be questioned. It is questioned in the ordinary way, in a civil suit.
- Supposing that the registering officer can cancel a registration. Satya Pal Anand holds that he cannot.
- Supposing that a power of attorney with an agreement to sell and a will amounts to a title. Suraj Lamp holds that it does not.
- Supposing that the certificate under Section 60 and a certified copy under Section 57 are the same. One is an endorsement on the deed; the other is a copy from the register.
- Supposing that a mutation entry completes the title. It records who pays the revenue, and confers nothing.
8. The Position Stated Shortly
1. The certificate under Section 60 is endorsed after Sections 34, 35, 58 and 59 have been complied with.
2. It contains the word "registered", with the number and page of the book, and is signed, sealed and dated.
3. It is admissible to prove that the document has been duly registered in the manner provided by the Act.
4. It is also admissible to prove that the facts mentioned in the Section 59 endorsements occurred as mentioned.
5. It proves nothing about title, about the genuineness of the deed, or about the executant's ownership.
6. The officer's enquiry is confined by Section 34(3) to execution, identity and the right to appear.
7. Title passes by the registered instrument of transfer, and Suraj Lamp holds that nothing short of one will do.
8. A registered document is challenged in a civil suit, and Satya Pal Anand holds that the registering officer is functus officio once registration is complete.
9. A chain of title is built from the deeds, a search of Book 1 and its index, and the devolution on death, not from certificates.
10. The certificate answers one question only: whether this document went through the registry correctly.