CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has clarified that sub-registrars have the authority to deny the registration of a plot as a house site without prior approval from planning authorities, as stipulated under the Registration Act.
This clarification came from a division bench comprising Justices S M Subramaniam and Mohammed Shaffiq while ruling on an appeal filed by the sub-registrar of Salem West. The appeal challenged a single judge’s order dated July 1, 2024, which reversed a decision to deny registration of a plot.
The case originated from a plea by D Rajamanickam, who contested the sub-registrar’s refusal to register a settlement deed for a 3,508 sqft land parcel in 2021, citing a lack of approval for a house site from the planning authorities, as required by Section 22 A of the Registration Act.
A single judge of the court granted Rajamanickam’s request, nullifying the sub-registrar’s decision and ordering the registration of the plot as a housing plot, given that surrounding plots had already been registered as house sites.
Feeling aggrieved, the sub-registrar lodged the current appeal. The bench upheld the appeal, referring to Section 22 A (2) of the Registration Act, which grants the registering authority the power to deny registration for land intended as house sites without the necessary approval from the planning authority.
“In this instance, no approval was secured from the planning authority for the subject plot presented in the settlement deed for registration,” the court noted.
The court further explained that if a plot has been previously registered as a house site, it may continue to be registered as such. However, for plots not previously registered as house sites, appropriate plot approval must be obtained before registration.
