15,000 Property Buyers Left High and Dry 

Sub-registrar offices cite SC’S 2011 judgment and refuse to get IGPAS converted into sale deeds

A seven-month delay by Delhi’s revenue department in issuing a circular for the compliance of the  Supreme Court judgment has left about 15,000 property buyers clueless about the status of their  properties. Some are unable to get titles for their properties while others are not finding buyers for  theirs. Sources say unofficial figures of properties impacted could be 30,000.

Nagma, who bought a builder’s floor in Laxmi Nagar in March 2012 through irrevocable general  power of attorney (IGPA) says her lawyer and the sub-registrar’s office failed to warn her against  making the purchase on the basis of the IGPA and did not tell her that it amounted to violation of  the Supreme Court’s October 11, 2011. judgment. Now, when she wants to get the IGPA  converted to a sale deed by paying the remaining stamp duty, the sub-registrar’s office has cited  the SC judgment and denied her request.

“I read the newspaper report last Saturday (May 5, 2012) on Delhi’s revenue minister Ashok  Kumar Walia’s statement that people who had bought properties through GPA sales between  October 11, 2011, to April 27, 2012, can get them converted into a sale deed by paying the  remaining stamp duty. That, however, is not happening. The sub-registrar’s office has refused to  entertain such cases. He (the sub-registrar) says he will comply with the circular issued on April  27, 2012,” says her lawyer, Sanjeev Gupta. On October 11, 2011, the Supreme Court held in the  case of Suraj Lamp & Industries (P) Ltd versus the State of Haryana that immovable property  can be legally and lawfully transferred/conveyed only by a registered deed of conveyance. The  order was made applicable with immediate effect Despite the SC order, GPA sale of properties  continued in Delhi On April 27, 2012, the office of the divisional commissioner of Delhi issued a  circular asking all sub-registrar's offices to comply with SC'S October 11, 2011, order. GPA  sales were then banned all over Delhi wef October 11, 2011 Between October 11, 2011, and April  27, 2012, about 15,000 properties were sold through various forms of GPAS On May 4, 2012,  Delhi's revenue minister AK Walia held a press conference and said that people who bought  properties through GPA sale between October 11, 2011, to April 27, 2012, could get a registered  deed of conveyance after following due procedures Despite Walia's statement, authorities now  refuse to convert GPA sales into registered deeds of conveyance though property owners are  ready to pay the remaining stamp duty

Hindustan Times, New Delhi, 12-05-2012