The High Court · 2025

Counsel for the Petitioner: SRI KATIKA RAVINDER REDDY Counsel for the Respondents: Gp FOR STAMpS & REGtS.ll IATION The Court made the following: ORDER - IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE K.SARATH UrRIT PETITION No.37 L98 of 2o25 Date: O4.L2.2O25 Between: Sri Jur.vadi Satyanarayana Rao AND ... Petitloner The State of Telangana, Rep. by its principal Secretary, Stamps and Registration, Sccretariat, Hyderabad and two others. ...Respondents ORDER Heard Sri Katika Ravinder Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Government pleader for Stamps and Registration for the respondents and perused the entire material on record. with their consent, the writ petition is taken up for disposal at admission stage.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the petitioner filed the present writ Petition seeking to declare the action of respondent No.3-Sub Registrar, Ramagundam Mandal, pecidapalli District, in refusing to register and release the General power of Attorney Pending Document No.P-9 12025 dared. 27.11.2025 uide lntimation of Refusal No.4 12025 dated 02.12.2o2s in respect of lanci Y\ 2 admeasuring 800 Sq. yards in Sy.No.588A/4, r,ea:r lINo.a-5-2l2lCl3, situated at Annapurna Colony Internal Road, Me<l pally (PM), Sivar Village, Ramagundam Municipal Corporation and I'4 rndal, Peddapalli District, on the basis of G.O.Ms.No.118, Reve: :e (Registration) Department, dated 28.1O.2O2O and Memo No.G37:'247 12078 dated O 1.05.2019 issued by respondent No.2, as illegal ancl arbitrarlz.

3. Learned counsel for the petitioner further subrr its that the issue involved in this Writ Petition is squarely covered ll the order dated O2.O7.2024 passed by this Court in W.P.No.15'f '1 <tf 2024 and requested to pass similar order in this Writ Petition iL so

4. Learned Government Pleader for Stamps and F r gistration did not dispute the submission made by the learned counst l for the petitioner with regard to the disposal of the W.P.No.154i ot 2024 dated

02.O7.2024 and requested to pass appropriate order; In view of the order dated 02.07.2024 passed ir W.P.No.1547 1 of

5. 2024 and for the reasons mentioned therein, tl-r I Writ Petition is disposed of, setting aside the refusal order date'l 02 -12 .2025 and directing the Registering Authority to receive, registr r and release the subject document, subject to the petitioner cor rplying '*'ith the provisions of the lndian Registration Act, 1908, ar d Indian Stamps Act, 1899, as expeditiously as possible, preferablv '"'ithin a period of t / 7 3 four (04) weeks from the date of receipt of a copy of this order without insisting for the proceedings of NALA Tax under the provisions of the Telangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non-Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 (for brevity, .the Act, 2006"\. However, it is open to the Registering Authority to refuse to register the subject document, by specifically assigning the reasons in terms of Section 71 of the Act, 1908 and communicate the said decision to the petitioner thereon. It is needless to mention that the petitioner shall pay the Nala tax as per the provisions of the Act, 2006, as and when demanded by the appropriate authorities under the Act, 2006. There shall be no order as to costs.

6. Registry is directed to annex copy of the order in W.P.No.1547 l of 2024 dated 02.07.2024 along with this order Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pending in this Writ Petition, shall stand closed. //TRUE COPY// SD/.C. DEEPIKA ASSISTANT REGISTRAR 6 SECTION OFFICER To, J 4 5 6 I# BSR / ThePrincipalsecretary(StampsandRegistration),secretariat,Hyderabad, State of Telang ana-500022 - The Commissioner and lnspector General of Registration inO Stamps' Omce / ,i'i-s--953,- t{zjm Shahi'- Ro, trlozamlarri Market,^Herza Estate' Risala / AtOuri"r, Corony, Jam Bagh, Hyderabad, Telangana 500001' The Sub Registrar, Ramagundam Mandal, Peddapalli District-505208' One CC to SRI KATIKA RAVINDER REDDY, Advocate [OPUC] TwoCCstoGPFoRSTAMPS&REG|STRAT|oN,HighCourtfortheState of Telangana at Hyderabad [OUT] Two CD Copies (Along with the copy of order dated 02.07'2024, in W'P'No'15471 of 20241 ',. i 5!L.*;:.- i*+e*:....:. .,, ,., i rii .,.#fji{L6e'rgii.' II HIGH COURT DATED: 0411212025 ORDER !, WP.No.37198 of 2025 .aa' ,t -v. ,r/. Y - ' i-''i, j,, .l v.i\ { .: c 1ri tiI 2025 .1" / t, DISPOSING OF THE WRIT PETITION, WITHOUT COSTS HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE N.V.SHRAVAN KUMAR Writ Petition No.15471 of 2024 ORDER: This writ petition is filed to declare the action of respondent No.3 in refusing to register and release the sale deed i.e., Pending Doc.No.P. ll4l2024 uide Intimatio n of Refusal No.48/2024 dated 03.06.2024 presented by the petitioner and his vendor in respect ol all that the open Land in Sy.Nos.2O1, 215 and 217, land admeasuring 1000 sq.ycls., situated at Gajularamaram Village, GHMC Circle, Quthbullapur Mandal, Medchal-Malkajgiri District (subjcct proeprty) on the ground of Memo No.G3/3247 l2Ol8 dated 01.05.2019 issued by respondent No.2 as illegal and arbitrary and consequently direct respondent No.3 to register and release the pending sale deed i.e., P.No.11412024 uide Intimation of Refusal No.4Bl2024 dated 03.06.2024.

2. Heard learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Assistant Government Pleader for Revenue appearing on behalf respondent Nos.1 to 3 1

3. The brief facts of the case are that petrlt rr-rer's vendor is the sole, absolute owner and peacefui possess:- of the subject property having acquired thc same through rep'i ;tercd sale deed uirle Doc No' 4505 l2OO2 dated 13'06 '2OO2 rrtLstered at Sub- Registrar Office' Medchal' Thereafter' due to 1 r nii]' lecessities' the vendor of the petitioner offered to sell tht subject property and petitioner herern agreed to purchase tht: I ltmc Thereafter' the vendor of the petitioner executed sale d<:r r i1 lavour of the petitioner and presented the same before rc: ronclettt No'3 on 28.05 2024 but the subject document was Icpt pending and assigned pending l' 'No l 14 1 2024 ancl t h t document was refuse d for registration on the following grour ( s: .ce :1-i licote "1. That the propertg set forth irt ll a docu mettt is an agnculture propertA and executatrt ns fctriled to p ro ducn no n- ag iculture land conLt e r.s,i-t' The Telangana Rights in Land' and I t ttadar Pass Books Act, 2O2O uthrch has come i t tt oparation u.e.f., 19 Og'2O20 d-efrned the Tahsiir crr-cutn 'Joint Sub Registrar as Registrar to register lit: agtiaitural lands situated in his junsdiction Con : rluent to the operation of the aboue Act' the ( t tte'rnnrent of Telangana through G O Ms'No'l18 ReLt (Regn'I) Department dated- 28' 1O'2O20 ha's cs 'ablished tLrc Offlces of Joint Sub-Rcgistrars under ' i(rctro'l 7(1) of -1 the Registration Act, 1908 ancl appointed Tah-s,ild ars of the concerned Mandal as Tahsildar - Joint Sub- Registrar in respect of agriculture land_s. Hence, Sub_ Registrar, Quthbullapur has no jurisd.iction ouer the properlg.

2. That the Commissioner and" Inspector General (R&S) Department Memo No.G3/ 32a7/ 2018 dated O 1 .05.2O 1 t has instructed- that wheneuer huge lands are shotuing in sq.gds., and_ sought to registration, the Sub-Registrar shall inuariablg refer ueb land (Dharani) and find out the real oruners as per reuenue records and insist upon conuersion certificate of agricultural land into non-agiculture land issued by the competent auth.oity. "

4. The petitioner has also filed copies of Dharani portal entries maintained by the Government of Telangana wherein the subject property is shown as house site. The petitioner has also paid the stamp duty in terms of ward basis which has also not been denied by the Sub-Registrar.

5. The Sub-Registrar, Quthbullapur i.e., respondent No.3 has placed a copy of written instructions and submits that the pending document was refused for registration uide Refusal order bearing No. I 1412024 dated 28.04.2024 for the reason I \ J that: iru terms of Memo No G3/32q7/20iB datett 0l'05 2O19 has instructecl that uheneuer huge lands are shoutinr in sq.yds., and sought to re qistration, the Sub-Registrar shall lnuoriably refer u..tcb lancl (Dharani) ancl fincl out the real ou-tnet: as per reL)enuc recorcls nrrd ittsisl upon conuersion certificate oJ Lqncultural Lancl into non agiculture land issued bg the cotnpet( t t authoritq But IAL'A cerlificote' the partics in the document are failed to produce '

6. In a stmiiar circumstance i e ' in W'P'f o 3605 ol 2024 d.atecl 22.o2.2024, tlne Sub-Registrar has refit ;ed registration thercin ou thc similar ground' In the said : rse' this Court dircctecl thr: registering authority to proces s the pencling document wit hottt insisting on payment of N r a charges The relevant port ion of the said order is as follows: 1 1 . Irt uiew of the aboue and tll rcasorl.s alike in the ord-er d-ated 25 09'2ai in W.P. No.15124 of 2023 bg'this Cou' No 11/2024 d.ated, o6.02.2024 is herebg arrrl llri.s utrit petition is disposed of di '' responclent No.3, Sub-Registrar' to re! sultject rlocumcnt in case, the same is in c r uith the prouisions of Registration Act Inclictr-r Stantp Act, 1899. Where the doctur' liable for registration under those prc r , for the 3 passed Refusnl set asidc ctin,g tha i.ster th.e nsono.nce 9OS and =nt is not lsions, cl I 7 5 Refusal ord.er can be passed and the decision taken be intimated to the petitioner in turiting. The parties to the document are d.irected. to pag NALA charges and when directecl without raising ang resistance.

7. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that in the above case the document was regis tered based on the court order and in view of the same, the respondent authorities are insisting that unless the Court order is furnished, they cannot go ahead with the registration. He would further submit that jurisdiction of respondent is only for the purpose of registration and not for any other reasons.

8. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that they have not received any so called refusal order bearing No.48/2024 dated 03.06.2024. On a query by ttre Court, learned Assistant Grlvernment pleader for Stamps and Registration, on instructions, submits that already refusal order has been sent b.y post. However, there is no proof of the same in the instructions.

9. This Court in repeated number of cases observed that the Registering Authorities are duty bound to communicate the @: ry*...,, =|.F:-'- ; 'rl1-, : t: i,:tt::- I \T - 6 refusal order to the petitioners or the citizens, rr ro approach for registering the documents and also grante( liberty to the petitioners to avail the remedy as available rr: ler law. In the case or-l hand also thc document has not beer retttrned to the petitioner and it is in the custody of the Sub ll gistrar. In that case, the petitioners cannot make a statutory 'llpcal which IS it is observed the available remecly for them. In a holistic vie'r that the offic:crs zire erring tn d ischarging lh r r d uties where ccrtain trmelitres are prescribed. That apart, t r: Sub Registrar herein is well arvare that the adjacent lands rtt t also regrstered even thereaftcr issued refusal order citing tlt,: reason that in Memo No G3l3247 l2O1B dated 01.05.2019, ,t.r which it is instructed th:rt rvhcuever huge lands are shr r il-tg Sq.yds., and sougl-rt for rcgistration, the Sub-Registrzrr shall invariably refer rveb lar-rd (Dharani) and find out the rr::r o\^rners as per revenue records ar-rd insist upon conversio t certi{lcate of agriculturerl land into non-agriculture land issued by the competent authority. But the parties in the clo< lmellt are failed to produce NALA ccrt ificate. / 1

10. On a perusal of the Memo No.324 /2018 dated 01.05.2019, the Commissioner of Inspector General of 7 J Registration and Stamps directed the Registering Ofhcers to be vigilant that whenever huge lands are shown in sq.yds., the Sub Registrars shall invariably refer Webland (Dharani) and hnd out real owners as per the revenue records and insist upon conversion certificate of agriculture land into non agricultural land and insist upon conversion certihcate issued by competent au thority

11. It appears that the Sub-Registrar has caiculated the market value in terms of yards and accordingly stamp duty has been paid in terms of sq.yards. In such case, insisting of conversion certificate from agriculture to non-agriculture by competent authority is only for the purpose of record and the parties can be directed to furnish the same at a laler point of tlme. 1,2. In W.P.No.3605 of 2024, this Court directed the Registering Authority to register the document without insisting payment of Nala charges. The said order has not been challenged and documents have been registered thereafter' In ..r':... :::l IJ - \ the case on hand the petitioner has paid hug,: stamp duty on yard basis based on market value obtained orL yard basrs and again insisting on NALA charges is arbitrary rnd illegal and registering authority had not followed the d I ections of this Court in W.P.No.3605 of 2024, which has attaine 1 finality.

13. The main grievance of the petitioner ir; that earlier the subject land is put to non-agriculture use for ,everal decades and that they have already paid stamp duty e nd registration charges in respect of lands as non-agriculture 1t eds by treating all the lands within the area of GHMC in sq.yJ , basis on par with open si te in layout having open area a I d parks. It is further submitted that respondent No.3 without understanding the aforesaid orders in W. P.No.3 605 of 20) +, is refusing registration on the same refusal grounds and . s insisting the petitioner to approach the Court and.obtain spr cific orders for registration of the subject documents, the said:t tion is nothing but burdening the petitioners as well as the Hor 'ble Court and pray this Court to direct the respondent No.3 :o register the subject documents. Eigr----.m t 7 9

14. In the case on hand, it is pertinent to note that the respondent No.3 without understanding the purport of the aforesaid order, is refusing to register the subject documents on the same grounds and insisting the petitioners to obtain Court orders. The said action is not justified. Hence, this Court passed orders on OI.OT .2024 directing respondent No.3 to be present before this Court on 02.O7.2024 and answer accordingly.

15. The core issue is that in many cases, the registering authorities are not implementing the orders passed by this Court and are refusing to register the subject documents on the same grounds and informing the citizens that unless they produce a Court order, the document cannot be registered However, ln such cases, the Sub Registrars either by way of instructions or at the time of appearance submits that the parties have not produced the document. In view of such discrepancy. in statement of the parties and Sub Registrars, the Courts are being misied.

16. In some cases, it is further observed that the respondent ofhcers who are dealing with the registrations of the documents are unable to decipher the orders of the Court and l0 are simply relegating the parties and insisting the parties/ citizens to approach the Court for rept'i ted orders' In this entire gamut of events, the citizens are rot only over burderied. but also had to run pillar to post and rre deprived of their rights guaranteed under Article 300-A of 11 e Constitution of Indla.

17. Learned Assistant Government Pleader br Stamps and Registration, on instructions, submits that hen::forth they will follow orders of this Court and will not in s ist citizens to approach the Court time an<l again and the Sut -Registrars will follow the Court orders scrupulously and I case of any clarification, the Sub-Registrars will seek instnr ;tions from the learned Government Pleaders and see that tlL' orders of the Court are implemented in its true letter an l spirit without troubling the citizens and would ensure t1l rt their rights guaranteed under Article 300-4 of Constitution of India would be protected .:::,:;*.1*t{::, rli}**t&}i: i' .: ..,r-:F:r,l.*r*{.t&l: i $ffi;r. 18- Recoding the submissions of the Sub-Registrar, this Court acimonishes the Sub-Registrars 1n insisting the Court orders, on settled issues or matters attained finality.

19. With the above observations, this writ petition IS disposed of directing the Registering Authority to receive, register and release the subject document, subject to the petitioner complying with the provisions of the Indian Registration Act, 19O8, and Indian Stamps Act, 1899, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within a period of three (03) weeks from the rlate of receipt of copy of this order without insisting for the proceedings of NALA Tax under the provisions of the Telangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for non- agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006. It is also open to the Registering Authority to refuse to register the subject document, by specifically assign the reasons in terms of Section 71 of the Act, 1908 ancl communicate the said decision to the petitioner. It is needless to mention that the petitioner shall pay the Nala tax as per the provisions of The Telangana Agricultural Land (Conversion for Non Agricultural Purposes) Act, 2006 as and :i;.:, 1.1n). *i.!'.'1;".+X,,..: r:.;egffit when demanded by the appropriate authorities tnder the said t2 Act

20. With the above observations and direr: ions, this writ petition is disposecl of. Miscellaneous petitions, if any, pendin I in this writ petition shall stand closed. No costs

02.o7.2024 N.V.SHRAVAN I( ]MAR., J