This Act may he called The Indian Registration Act, 1871:

Local extent. It extends to the whole of British India, except such districts or tracts of country as the Local Government may from time to time, with the previous sanction of the Governor General in Council, exclude from its operation;

Commencement. And it shall come into force on the first day of July 1871.

On and from that day the enactments mentioned or referred to in the first schedule hereto annexed shall he repealed to the extent Specified in the third column of the same schedule.

But all appointments, notifications, rules and orders made, and all offices established, under any of the said enactments shall he deemed to have been, respectively, made and established under this Act, except in so far as such rules and orders may be inconsistent herewith.

References made in Acts passed before the first day of July 1871, to any enactment hereby repealed, shall be read as if made to the corresponding section of this Act.

And nothing herein contained affects Act No. XX of 1866, so far as relates to the procedure upon any agreement recorded under section fifty-two of that Act at any time before that day, or the procedure provided by that Act for the registration and deposit of authorities to adopt executed before the first day of January 1872.

And so far as regards suits instituted before the first day of April 1873, nothing herein contained affects Act No. XIV of 1859, section one, clause ten, as amended by Act No. XX of 1866, section twenty-seven.

3. Interpretation-clause. In this Act, unless there be something repugnant in the subject or context

Lease. Lease includes a counterpart, a kabiiliydt, an undertaking to cultivate or occupy, and an agreement to lease:

Signature Signed. Signature and signed include and apply to the affixing of a mark:

Immovable property. Immoveable property includes land, buildings, rights to ways, lights, ferries, fisheries or any other benefit to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth or permanently fastened to any thing which is attached to the earth, but not standing timber, growing crops, nor grass:

Moveable property. Moveable property includes standing timber, growing crops and grass, fruit upon and juice in trees, and property of every other description, except immoveable property:

Book. Book includes a portion of a Book and also any number of sheets connected together with a view of forming a Book or portion of a Book:

Endorsement. Endorsed. Endorsement and endorsed include and apply to an entry in writing by a Registering Officer on a rider or covering slip to any document tendered for registration under this Act;

Minor. Minor means a person who, according to the personal law to which he is subject, has not attained majority:

Representative. Representative includes the guardian of a minor and the Committee or other legal curator of a lunatic or idiot:

Addition. Addition means the place of residence, and the profession, trade, rank and title (if any) of a person described, and, in the case of a, Native, his caste (if any) and his father's name, or where he is usually described as the son of his mother, then his mother's name:

District Court. District Court includes the High Court in its ordinary original civil jurisdiction; and

District and Sub-District. District and Sub-District respectively mean a District and Sub-District formed under this Act.

OF THE REGISTRATION ESTABLISHMENT

The Local Government shall appoint an officer to he the Inspector General of Registration for the territories subject to such Government,

or may, instead of making such appointment, direct that all or any of the powers and duties hereinafter conferred and imposed upon the Inspector General shall he exercised and performed by such officer or officers, and within such local limits, as the Local Government from time to time appoints in this behalf.

Branch Inspector General of Sindh. The Governor of Bombay in Council may also, with the previous consent of the Governor General in Council, appoint an officer to be Branch Inspector General of Sindh, who shall have all the powers of an Inspector General under this Act other than the power to frame rules hereinafter conferred.

Any Inspector General or the Branch Inspector General of Sindh may hold simultaneously any other office under Government.

For the purposes of this Act, the Local Government shall form Districts and Sub-Districts, and shall prescribe, and may from time to time alter, the limits of such Districts and Sub-Districts.

The Districts and Sub-Districts formed under this section, together with the limits thereof, and every alteration of such limits, shall be notified in the local official Gazette.

Every such alteration shall take effect on such day after the date of the notification as is therein mentioned.

The Local Government may appoint such persons, whether public officers or not, as it thinks proper, to he Puegistrars of the several Districts, and to he Sub-Registrars of the several Sub-Districts, formed as aforesaid, respectively.

The Local Government shall establish in every District an office to be styled the Office of the Registrar and in every Sub-District an office to be styled the Office of the Sub-Registrar,

and may amalgamate with any Office of a Registrar any Office of a Sub-Registrar.

The Local Government may also appoint officers to he called Inspectors of Registration Offices, and may from time to time prescribe the duties of such officers. Every such Inspector shall be subordinate to the Inspector General.

Every Military Cantonment where there is a Cantonment Magistrate may (if the Local Government so directs) be, for the purposes of this Act, a Sub-District or a District, and such Magistrate shall be the Sub-Registrar or the Registrar, of such Sub-District or District, as the case may be.

Whenever the Governor General in Council declares any Military Cantonment beyond the limits of British India to be a Sub-District or a District for the purposes of this Act, he shall also declare, in the case of a Sub-District, what authorities shall be Registrar of the District and Inspector General, and in the case of a District, what authority shall be Inspector General, with reference to such Cantonment and the Sub-Registrar or Registrar thereof.

Whenever any Registrar other than the Registrar of a District including a Presidency Town, is absent otherwise than on duty in his District, or when his office is temporarily vacant,

any person whom the Inspector General appoints in this behalf, or, in default of such appointment, the Judge of the District Court within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the Registrar's Office is situate,

shall be the Registrar during such absence or until the Local Government fills up the vacancy.

Whenever the Registrar of a District including a Presidency Town, is absent otherwise than on duty in his District, or when his office is temporarily vacant,

any person whom the Inspector General appoints in tills behalf shall he the Registrar during such absence, or until the Local Government fills up the vacancy.

Whenever any Registrar is absent from his office on duty in his District, he may appoint any Sub-Registrar or other person in his District to perform, during such absence, all the duties of a Registrar, except those mentioned in sections sixty-eight and seventy-two.

Whenever any Sub-Registrar is absent, or when his office is temporarily vacant,

any person whom the Registrar of the District appoints in this behalf shall he Sub-Registrar during such absence, or until the Local Government fills up the vacancy.

All appointments made under section ten, section eleven, or section twelve shall he reported to the Local Government by the Inspector General. Such report shall he either special or general, as the Local Government directs.

Suspension, removal and dismissal of Registering Officers. The Local Government may suspend, remove or dismiss any person appointed under the provisions of tills Act, and appoint another person in his stead.

Subject to the approval of the Governor General in Council, the Local Government may assign such salaries as such Government from time to time deems proper to the Registering Officers appointed under tins Act, or provide for their remuneration by fees, or partly by fees and partly by salaries.

The Local Government may allow proper establishments for the several Offices under this Act.

The several Registrars and Sub-Registrars shall use a seal hearing the following inscription in English and in such other language as the Local Government directs: The seal of the Registrar (or of the Sub-Registrar) of.

The Local Government shall provide for the office of every Registering Officer the hooks necessary for the purposes of this Act.

Forms. The books so provided shall contain the forms from time to time prescribed by the Inspector General, with the sanction of the Local Government, and the pages of such hooks shall he consecutively numbered in print, and the number of pages in each hook shall be certified on the title-page by the officer by whom such books are issued.

Fire-proof boxers. The Local Government shall supply the office of every Registrar with a fire-proof box, and shall in each District make suitable provision for the safe custody of the records connected with the registration of documents in such District.

OF REGISTRABLE DOCUMENTS

The documents next hereinafter mentioned shall be registered, if the property to which they relate is situate in a District in which, and if they have been executed on or after the date on which, Act No. XVI of 1864, or Act No. XX of 1866, or this Act came or comes into force (that is to say),

(1). Instruments of gift of immoveable property:

(2). Other instruments (not being wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immoveable property:

(3). Instruments (not being wills) which acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest; and

(4). Leases of immoveable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent:

Provided that the Local Government may, by order published in the official Gazette, exempt from the operation of the former part of this section any leases executed in any District, or part of a District, the terms granted by which do not exceed five years and the annual rents reserved by which do not exceed fifty rupees.

Exception of composition-deeds;. Nothing in clauses (2) and (3) of this section applies

(a) to any composition-deed,

(b) and of tranfers of shares and debentures in Land Companies. to any instrument relating to shares in a Joint Stock Company, notwithstanding that the assets of such Company consist in whole or in part of immoveable property, or

(c) to any endorsement upon or transfer of any debenture issued by any such Company.

Authorities to adopt. Authorities to adopt a son, executed after the first day of January 1872 and not conferred by a will, shall also he registered.

Any of the documents next hereinafter mentioned may be registered under this Act (that is to say),

(1) Instruments (other than instruments of gift and wills) which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of a value less than one hundred rupees, to or in immoveable property:

(2) Instruments acknowledging the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation, or extinction of any such right, title or interest:

(3) Leases of immoveable property for any term not exceeding one year, and leases exempted under section seventeen:

(4) Awards relating to immoveable property:

(5) Instruments which purport or operate to create, delare, assign, limit or extinguish any right, title, or interest to or in moveable property:

(6) Wills:

(7) Acknowledgments, Agreements, Appointments, Articles of Partnership, Assignments, Awards, Bills of Exchange, Bills of Sale, Bonds, Composition-deeds, Conditions of Sale, Contracts, Certified Copies of Decrees and Orders of Courts, Covenants, Grants, Instruments of Dissolution of Partnership, Instruments of Partition, Powers of Attorney, Promissory Notes, Releases, Settlements, Writings of Divorcement, and all other documents not hereinbefore mentioned.

If any document duly presented for registration be in a language which the Registering Officer does not understand, and which is not commonly used in the District, he shall refuse to register the document, unless it be accompanied by a true translation into a language commonly used in the District and also by a true copy.

The Registering Officer may in his discretion refuse to accept for registration any document in which any interlineation, blank, erasure or alteration appears, unless the persons executing the document attest with their signatures or initials such interlineation, blank, erasure or alteration. If he register such document, he shall, at the time of registering the same, make a note in the register of such interlineation, blank, erasure or alteration.

(a.) No document not testamentary relating to immoveable property shall he accepted for registration unless it contains a description of such property sufficient to identify the same.

(b.) Houses in towns shall he described as situate on the north or other side of the street or road (mentioning it) to which they front, and by their existing and former occupancies, and by their numbers if the houses in such street or road are numbered.-Other houses and lands shall be described by their name, if any, and as being in the territorial division in which they are situate, and by their superficial contents, the roads and other properties on which they abut, and their existing occupancies, and also, whenever it is practicable, by reference to a Government map or survey.

(c.) Documents containing maps or plans. No document not testamentary containing a map or plan of any property comprised therein shall be accepted for registration unless it be accompanied by a true copy of the map or plan, or, in case such property is situate in several Districts, by such number of true copies of the map or plan as are equal to the number of such Districts.

Failure to comply with the provisions contained in section twenty-one, clause (5) shall not disentitle a document to he registered if the description of the property to which it relates is sufficient to identify such property.

OF THE TIME OF PRESENTATION

Subject to the provisions contained in sections twenty-four, twenty-five and twenty-six, no document required by section seventeen to be registered, and no document mentioned in section eighteen, other than a will, shall be accepted for registration unless presented for that purpose to the proper officer within four months from the date of its execution,

or, in the case of a copy of a decree or order, within four months from the day on which the decree or order was made, or, where it is appealable, within four months from the day on which it becomes final:

Provided that, where there are several persons executing a document at different times, such document may be presented for registration and re-registration within four months from the date of each execution.

If owing to urgent necessity or unavoidable accident, any document executed, or copy of a decree or order made, in British India is not presented for registration till after the expiration of the time hereinbefore prescribed in that behalf, the Registrar, in cases where the delay in presentation does not exceed four months, may direct that on payment of a fine not exceeding ten times the amount of the proper registration fee, such document shall be accepted for registration.

Any application for such direction may be lodged with a Sub-Registrar, who shall forthwith forward it to the Registrar to whom he is subordinate.

When a document purporting to have been executed by all or any of the parties out of British India is not presented for registration till after the expiration of the time hereinbefore prescribed in that behalf, the Registering Officer, if satisfied,

(1) that the instrument was so executed, and

(2) that it has been presented for registration within four months after its arrival in British India,

may, on payment of the proper registration fee, accept such document for registration.

Whenever a registration-office is closed on the last day of any period hereinbefore provided for the presentation of any document, such last day shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be the clay on which the office re-opens.

A will may at any time he presented for registration or deposited in manner hereinafter provided.

OF THE PLACE OF REGISTRATION

Save as in this Part otherwise provided, every document mentioned in section seventeen, clauses (1), (2), (3) and (4), and section eighteen, clauses (1), (2), (3) and (4), shall he presented for registration in the office of a Sub-Registrar within whose Sub-District the whole or some portion of the property to which such document relates is situate.

Every document other than a document referred to in section twenty-eight and a copy of a decree or order, may be presented for registration either in the office of the Sub-Registrar in whose Sub-District the document was executed, or in the office of any other Sub-Registrar under the Local Government at which all the persons executing and claiming under the document desire the same to be registered.

A copy of a decree or order may be presented for registration in the office of the Sub-Registrar in whose Sub-District the original decree or order was made, or, where the decree or order does not affect immoveable property, in the office of any other Sub-Registrar under the Local Government at which all the persons claiming under the decree or order desire the copy to be registered.

(a.) Any Registrar may in his discretion receive and register any document which might he registered by any Sub-Registrar subordinate to him,

(b.) Registration by Registrar at Presidency Town. The Registrar of a District including a Presidency Town may receive and register any document referred to in section twenty-eight without regard to the situation in any part of British India of the property to which the document relates.

In ordinary cases the registration or deposit of documents under this Act shall he made only at the office of the officer whose duty it is to register the same.

But such officer may on special cause being shown attend at the residence of any person intending to register any document which would ordinarily be registered at such office, or of any person desiring to deposit a will, and register or accept for registration or deposit such document or will.

OF PRESENTING DOCUMENTS FOR REGISTRATION

Except in the case mentioned in section thirty one, every document to he registered under this Act, whether such registration he compulsory or optional, shall be presented at the proper Registration Office,

by some person executing or claiming under the same, or, in the case of a copy of a decree or order, claiming under the decree or order,

or by the representative or assign of such person,

or by the agent of such person, representative or assign, duly authorized by power of attorney executed and authenticated in manner hereinafter mentioned.

For the purposes of section thirty-two, the powers of attorney next hereinafter mentioned shall alone be recognized (that is to say);

(a) if the principal at the time of executing the power of attorney resides in any part of British India in which this Act is for the time being in force, a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by the Registrar or Sub-Registrar within whose District or Sub-District the principal resides:

(b) if the principal at the time aforesaid resides in any other part of British India, a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by any Magistrate:

(c) if the principal at the time aforesaid does not reside in British India, a power of attorney executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public, or any Court, Judge, Magistrate, British Consul or Vice-Consul, or representative of Her Majesty or of the Government of India:

Proviso as to persons infirm, or in jail, or exempt from appearing in Court. Provided that the following persons shall not be required to attend at any registration-office or Court for the purpose of executing any such power of attorney as is mentioned in clauses (a) and (b) of this section:

persons who by reason of bodily infirmity are unable without risk or serious inconvenience so to attend;

persons who are in jail under civil or criminal process; and

persons exempt by law from personal appearance in Court.

In every such case the Registrar or Sub-Registrar or Judge (as the case may he), if satisfied that the power of attorney has been voluntarily executed by the person purporting to he the principal, may attest the same without requiring his personal attendance at the office or court aforesaid.

To obtain evidence as to the voluntary nature of the execution, the Registrar or Sub-Registrar or Judge may either himself go to the house of the person purporting to be the principal, or to the jail in which lie is confined, and examine him, of issue a commission for his examination.

Any power of attorney mentioned in this section may be proved by the production of it without further proof, when, it purports on the face of it to have been executed before and authenticated by the person or court hereinbefore mentioned in that behalf.

Subject to the provisions contained in this Part and in sections forty-one, forty-three, forty-five, sixty-nine, seventy-six, and eighty-six, no document shall he registered under this Act, unless the persons executing such document, or their representatives, assigns or agents authorized as aforesaid, appear before the registering officer within the time allowed for presentation:

Provided that if owing to urgent necessity or unavoidable accident all such persons do not so appear, the Registrar, in cases where the delay in appearing does not exceed four months, may direct that on payment of a fine not exceeding ten times the amount of the proper registration fee, the document may he registered.

Such appearances may he simultaneous or at different times.

The registering officer shall thereupon

(a) enquire whether or not such document was executed by the persons by whom it purports to have been executed,

(b) satisfy himself as to the identity of the persons appearing before him and alleging that they have executed the document, and

(c) in the case of any person appearing as a representative, assign or agent, satisfy himself of the right of such person so to appear.

If all the persons executing the document appear personally before the registering officer and are personally known to him, or if he be otherwise satisfied that they are the persons they represent themselves to be, and if they all admit the execution of the document;

or, in the case of any person appearing by a representative, assign or agent, if such representative, assign or agent admits the execution;

or, if the person executing the document is dead, and his representative or assign appears before the registering officer, and admits the execution,

the registering officer shall register the document as directed in sections fifty-eight to sixty-one inclusive.

The registering officer may, in order to satisfy himself that the persons appearing before him are the persons they represent themselves to he, or for any other purpose contemplated by this Act, examine any one present in his office.

Procedure on denial of execution, & c. If all or any of the persons by whom the document purports to be executed deny its execution,

or if any such person appears to be a minor, an idiot, or a lunatic,

or if any person by whom the document purports to be executed is dead, and his representative or assign denies its execution,

the registering officer shall refuse to register the document.

Nothing in section thirty-four, or the former part of this section, applies to copies of decrees or orders.

OF ENFORCING THE APPEARANCE OF EXECUTANTS AND WITNESSES

If any person presenting any document for registration desires the appearance of any person whose presence or testimony is necessary for the registration of such document, the registering officer may, in his discretion, call upon such officer or court as the Local Government from time to time directs in this behalf to issue a summons requiring him to appear at the registration office, either in person or by duly authorized agent, as in the summons may be mentioned, and at a time named therein.

The Officer or Court, upon receipt of the peon's fee payable in such cases, shall issue the summons accordingly, and cause it to be served upon the person whose appearance is so required.

A person who by reason of bodily infirmity is unable without risk or serious inconvenience to appear at the registration office,

a person in jail under civil or criminal process,

and persons exempt by law from personal appearance in court, and who would but for the provision next hereinafter contained be required to appear in person at the registration office,

shall not be required so to appear.

In every such case, the registering officer shall either himself go to the house of such person, or to the jail in which he is confined, and examine him, or issue a commission for his examination.

The law in force for the time being as to summonses, commissions and compelling the attendance of witnesses, and for their remuneration in suits before civil courts shall, save as aforesaid and mutatis mutandis, apply to any summons or commission issued, and any person summoned to appear under-the provisions of this Act.

OF PRESENTING WILLS AND AUTHORITIES TO ADOPT

The testator or any person claiming as executor or otherwise under a will, may present it to any Registrar or Sub-Registrar for registration,

and the donor or donee of any authority to adopt, or the adoptive son, may present it to any Registrar or Sub-Registrar for registration.

A will or an authority to adopt, presented for registration by the testator or donor, may be registered in the same manner as any other document.

A will or authority to adopt presented for registration by any other person entitled to present it, shall be registered if the registering officer is satisfied,

(1) that the will or authority was executed by the testator or donor, as the case may be,

(2) that the testator or donor is dead, and

(3) that the person presenting the will or authority is, under section forty, entitled to present the same,

OF THE DEPOSIT OF WIPES

Any testator may either personally or by duly authorized agent deposit with any Registrar the will in a sealed cover superscribed with the name of the depositor and the nature of the document.

On receiving such sealed cover, the Registrar, if satisfied that the depositor is the testator, or his duly authorized agent, shall transcribe in his Register Book No. 5 the superscription on such sealed cover, and note in the register and on the sealed cover the year, month, day and hour of such presentation and receipt, together with the name of the depositor, and the name of each of the persons testifying to the identity of such depositor, and the inscription so far as it is legible on the seal of the cover.

The Registrar shall then place and retain the sealed cover in his fire-proof box.

If the depositor of any such sealed cover, wishes to withdraw it, he may apply to the Registrar with whom it has been so deposited for the delivery of the cover; and the Registrar, if satisfied as to the identity of the depositor with the applicant, shall deliver the cover accordingly.

If, on the death of the depositor of a sealed cover under section forty-two, application he made to the Registrar with whom it has been deposited to open the same, the Registrar, if satisfied that the depositor is dead, shall, in the applicant's presence, open the cover, and copy, at the applicant's expense, the contents thereof in his Book No. 3.

Redeposit. When such copy has been made, the Registrar shall re-deposit the original will.

Noting hereinbefore contained shall affect the provisions of the Indian Succession Act, section two hundred and fifty-nine, or the power of any court by order to compel the production of any will. But whenever any such order is made, the Registrar shall copy the will in his Book No. 3 and make a note on such copy that the original has been removed into court in pursuance of the order aforesaid.

OF THE EFFECTS OF REGISTRATION AND NON-REGISTRATION

A registered document shall operate from the time from which it would have commenced to operate if 110 registration thereof had been required or made, and not from the time of its registration.

All documents, not testamentary, duly registered under this Act, and relating to any property whether moveable or immoveable, shall take effect against any oral agreement or declaration relating to such property, unless where the agreement or declaration has been accompanied or followed by delivery of possession.

No document required by section seventeen to be registered,

shall affect any immoveable property comprised therein,

or confer any power to adopt,

or he received as evidence of any transaction affecting such property or conferring such power,

unless it has been registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Every document of the kinds mentioned in clauses (1) and (2) of section eighteen, shall, if duly registered, take effect as regards the property comprised therein, against every unregistered document relating to the same property, and not being a decree or order, whether such unregistered document be of the same nature as the registered document or not.

Explanation. In cases where Act No. XVI of 1864 or Act No. XX of 1866 was in force in the place and at the time in and at which such unregistered document was executed, unregistered means not registered according to such Act, and, where the document is executed after the first day of July 1871, not registered under this Act.

OF THE DUTIES AND POWERS OF REGISTERING OFFICERS

The following Books shall he kept in the several offices hereinafter named (that is to say)

In all Registration Offices

Book 1 Register of documents relating to immoveable property;

Book 2, Record of reasons for refusal to register:

Book 3, Register of wills and authorities to adopt and

Book 4, Miscellaneous Register.

In the Offices of Registrars

Book 5, Register of deposits of wills.

In Book 1 shall he entered or filed all documents or memoranda registered under the first four clauses of sections seventeen and eighteen and all other documents mentioned in section eighteen, clause (7), which relate to immoveable property.

In Book 4 shall he entered all documents registered under clauses (5) and (7) of section eighteen, and not entered in Book 1.

Nothing in the former part of this section shall he deemed to require more than one set of hooks where the Office of the Register has been amalgamated with the Office of a Sub-Registrar.

The day, hour and place of presentation, and the signature of every person presenting a document for registration, shall be endorsed on every such document at the time of presenting it a receipt for such document shall be given by the registering officer to the person presenting the same; and, subject to the provisions contained in section sixty-two, every document admitted to registration shall without unnecessary delay be copied in the Book appropriated therefor according to the order of its admission.

And all such books shall be authenticated at such intervals and in such manner as is from time to time prescribed by the Inspector General.

All entries in each Book shall be numbered in a consecutive series, which shall commence and terminate with the year, a fresh series being commenced at the beginning of each year.

In every office in which any of the books hereinbefore mentioned are kept, there shall be prepared current indexes of the contents of such books; and every entry in such indexes shall be made, so far as practicable, immediately after the registering officer has copied, or filed a memorandum of, the document to which it relates.

Two such indexes shall be made in all registration offices, and shall be named, respectively, Index No. I. and Index No. II.

Index No. I. shall contain the names and additions of all persons executing and of all persons claiming under every document copied into or memorandum filed in Book No. 1 or Book No. 3.

Index No. II. shall contain such particulars mentioned in section twenty-one relating to every such document and memorandum as the Inspector General from time to time directs in that behalf.

A third index to be called Index No. III. shall contain the names and additions of all persons executing and of all persons claiming under every document copied into Book No. 4.

Extra particulars in indexes. Indexes Nos. I., II. and III. shall contain such other particulars, and shall be prepared in such form, as the Inspector General from time to time directs.

Every Sub-Registrar shall send to the Registrar to whom he is subordinate, at such intervals as the Inspector General from time to time directs, a copy of all entries made by such Sub-Registrar, during the last of such intervals, in Indexes Nos. I. and II.

Such copy to be filed by Registrar. Every Registrar receiving such copy shall file it in his office.

Subject to the previous payment of the fees payable in that behalf, the Books Nos. 1 and 2 and the indexes relating to Book No. 1 shall he at all times open to inspection by any person applying to inspect the same; and subject to the provisions of section sixty-two, copies of entries in such hooks shall be given to all persons applying for such copies.

Subject to the same provisions, copies of entries in Books Nos. 3 and 4 and in the indexes relating thereto shall be given to any person executing or claiming under the documents to which such entries respectively refer; but the requisite search for such entries shall he made only by the registering officer.

Such copies shall be signed and sealed by the registering officer, and shall he admissible for the purpose of proving the contents of the original documents.

On every document admitted to registration, other than a copy of a decree or order, there shall he endorsed from time to time the following particulars (that is to say),

(1) the signature and addition of every person admitting the execution of the document; and, if such execution has been admitted by the representative, assign or agent of any person, the signature and addition of such representative, assign or agent;

(2) the signature and addition of every, person examined in reference to such document under any of the provisions of this Act; and

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

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

The registering officer shall affix the date and his signature to all endorsements made under the last preceding section, relating to the same document and made in his presence on the same day.

After such of the provisions of section thirty-four, thirty-five, fifty-eight, and fifty-nine 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.

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 fifty-nine have occurred as therein mentioned.

The endorsements and certificate referred to and mentioned in sections fifty-nine and sixty shall thereupon be copied into the margin of the Register Book, and the copy of the map or plan (if any) mentioned in section twenty-one shall be filed in Book No. 1.

Document to be returned. The registration of the document shall thereupon be deemed complete, and the document shall then be returned to the person who presented the same for registration, or to such other person (if any) as he has nominated in writing in that behalf on the receipt mentioned in section fifty-two.

When a document is presented for registration under section nineteen, the translation shall he transcribed in the register of documents of the nature of the original, and, together with the copy referred to in section nineteen, shall be filed in the registration office.

The endorsements and certificate respectively mentioned in sections fifty-nine and sixty shall be made oil the original, and for the purpose of making the copies and memoranda required by sections fifty-seven, sixty-four, sixty-five, and sixty-six, the translation shall be treated as if it were the original.

Every registering officer may at his discretion administer an oath to any person examined by him under the provisions of this Act.

Record of substance of statements. He may also at his discretion record a note of the substance of the statement made by each such person, and such statement shall be read over, or (if made in a language with which such person is not acquainted) interpreted to him in a language with which he is acquainted, and if he admits the correctness of such note, it shall be signed by the registering officer.

Every such note so signed shall be admissible for the purpose of proving that the statements therein recorded were made by the persons and under the circumstances therein stated.

Every Sub-Registrar on registering a document relating to immoveable property not wholly situate in his own Sub-District, shall make a memorandum thereof and of the endorsement and certificate thereon, and send the same to every other Sub-Registrar subordinate to the same Registrar as himself in whose Sub-District any part of such property is situate, and such Sub-Registrar shall file the memorandum in his Book No. 1.

Every Sub-Registrar on registering a document relating to immoveable property situate in more Districts than one, shall also forward a copy thereof and of the endorsement and certificate thereon, together with a copy of the map or plan (if any) mentioned in section twenty-one, to the Registrar of every District in which any part of such property is situate other than the District in which his own Sub-District is situate.

The Registrar on receiving the same shall file in his Book No. 1 the copy of the document and the copy of the map or plan (if any), and shall forward a memorandum of the document to each of the Sub-Registrars subordinate to him within whose Sub-District any part of such property is situate; and every Sub-Registrar receiving such memorandum shall file it in his Book No. 1.

On registering any document not testamentary relating to immoveable property, the Registrar shall forward a memorandum of such document to each Sub-Registrar subordinate to himself in whose Sub-District any part of the property is situate.

He shall also forward a copy of such document, together with a copy of the map or plan (if any) mentioned in section twenty-one, to every other Registrar in whose District any part of such property is situate.

Such Registrar on receiving any such copy shall file it in his Book No. 1, and shall also send a memorandum of the copy to each of the Sub-Registrars subordinate to him within whose Sub-District any part of the property is situate.

Every Sub-Registrar receiving any memorandum under this section shall file it in his Book No. 1.

67. Procedure on registration under Section 30, clause b. On any document being registered under section thirty, clause (b), a copy of such document and of the endorsements and certificate thereon shall he forwarded to every Registrar within whose District any part of the property to which the instrument relates is situate, and the Registrar receiving such copy shall follow the procedure prescribed for him in the first clause of section sixty-six.

Every Sub-Registrar shall perform the duties of his office under the superintendence and control of the Registrar in whose District the office of such Sub-Registrar is situate.

Every Registrar shall have authority to issue (whether on complaint or otherwise) any order consistent with this Act which he considers necessary in respect of any act or omission of any Sub-Registrar subordinate to him, or in respect of the rectification of any error regarding the Rook or the office in which any document shall have been registered.

The Inspector General shall exercise a general superintendence over all the registration offices in the territories under the Local Government, and shall have power from time to time to frame rules consistent with this Act

providing for the safe custody of hooks, papers and documents, and also for the destruction of such hooks, papers and documents as need no longer he kept;

declaring what languages shall he deemed to he commonly used in each District;

declaring what territorial divisions shall he recognized under section twenty-one;

regulating the amount of fines imposed under section twenty-four;

regulating the exercise of the discretion reposed in the registering officer by section sixty-three;

regulating the form in which registering officers are to make memoranda of documents;

regulating the authentication by. Registrars and Sub-Registrars of the books kept in their respective offices under section fifty-one;

declaring the particulars to he contained in Indexes Nos. I, II, and III, respectively;

declaring the holidays that shall be observed in the registration offices;

and, generally, regulating the proceedings of the Registrars and Sub-Registrars.

The rules so framed shall he submitted to the Local Government for approval, and, after they have been approved, they shall he published in the official Gazette, and shall then have the same force as if they were inserted in this Act.

The Inspector General may also, in the exercise of his discretion, remit wholly or in part the difference between any fine levied finder section twenty-four or section thirty-four and the amount of, the proper registration fee.

OF REFUSAL TO REGISTER

Every registering officer refusing to register a document,

except (1) where the property to which the document relates is not situate within his District or Sub-District, or (2) where the registering officer being a Registrar declines to accept the document on the ground that it ought to he registered in the office of a Sub-Registrar,

shall make an order of refusal and record his reasons for such order in his Book No. 2, and endorse the words registration refused on the document; and on application made by any person executing or claiming under the document, shall, without unnecessary delay, give him a copy of the reasons so recorded.

No registering officer shall accept for registration a document so endorsed unless and until, under the provisions hereinafter contained, the document is directed to be registered.

An appeal shall lie against an order of a Sub-Registrar refusing to admit a document to registration (whether the registration of such document is compulsory or optional) to the Registrar to whom such Sub-Registrar is subordinate if presented to such Registrar within thirty days from the date of the order, and the Registrar may reverse or alter such order:

Any Registrar refusing to direct the registration of any document shall make an order of refusal and record the reasons for such order in his Book No. 2, and on application made by any person executing or claiming under the document, shall, without unnecessary delay, give him a copy of the reasons so recorded.

If a Registrar makes under section seventy-one or section seventy-two an order of refusal to register or to direct the registration of any document,

or if he has made a like order under section eighty-two or section eighty-three of Act No. XX of 1866,

or if the Sub-Registrar has refused to register the document on the ground that the person, or one of the persons, by whom the document purports to have been executed, has denied the execution,

or if the Registrar has himself as Sub-Registrar made an order of refusal under section seventy-one,

any person claiming under such document, or his representative, assign or agent authorized as aforesaid, may, within thirty days after the making of the order of refusal, apply by petition to the District Court, in order to establish his right to have the document registered,

The petition shall he in the form contained in the second schedule hereto annexed or as near thereto as circumstances permit, and shall he accompanied by copies of the reasons recorded under sections seventy-one and seventy-two; the statements in the petition shall he verified by the petitioner in manner required by law for the verification of plaints; and the petition may he amended by permission of the court.

The court shall fix a day for the hearing of the petition not less than two days after the service next hereinafter mentioned, and shall direct a copy of the petition, with a notice at the foot thereof of the day so fixed, to he served on the registering officer and on such other persons (if any) as the court thinks fit; and the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure as to the service and endorsement of summonses shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to copies of petitions under this section.

The court may summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses and compel them to give evidence,

and on the day so fixed as aforesaid, or on any day to which the hearing of the petition may be adjourned, shall enquire

(a.) whether the document has been executed, and

(b.) whether the requirements of the law for the time being in force have been complied with on the part of the petitioner so as to entitle the document to registration.

If it finds that the document has been executed and that the said requirements have been complied with, the court shall order the document to he registered,

and if the document he duly presented for registration within thirty days after the making of such order, the registering officer shall obey the same, and thereupon shall, so far as may he practicable, follow the procedure prescribed in sections fifty-eight, fifty-nine and sixty.

Such, registration shall take effect as if the document had been registered when it was first duly presented for registration.

Provision for case in which Judge is registering officer. Provided that when the officer presiding over the District Court has himself as registering officer made any order complained of under this section, the petition shall, within sixty days after the making of such order, be presented to the High Court, and the provisions contained in the former part of this section shall, mutatis mutandis, apply to such petition and the order (if any) thereon.

The District Court or the High Court, as the case may he, may direct by whom the whole or any part of the costs of any proceedings before it under this Part shall he paid, and such costs shall he recoverable as if they had been awarded in a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure.

No appeal lies from any order made under this section.

OF THE FEES FOR REGISTRATION, SEARCHES AND COPIES

Subject to the approval of the Governor General in Council, the Local Government shall prepare a table of fees payable

for the registration of documents:

for searching the registers:

for mailing or granting copies of reasons, entries or documents, before, on or after registration;

And of extra or additional fees payable

for every registration under section thirty:

for the issue of commissions:

for filing translations:

for attending at private residences;

and for such other matters as appear to the Local Government necessary to effect the purposes of this Act.

Alteration of fees. The Local Government may from time to time, subject to the like approval, alter such table.

Publication of fees. A table of the fees so payable shall be published in the official Gazette, and a copy thereof in English and the Vernacular language of the District shall he exposed to public view in every registration office.

All fees for the registration of documents under this Act shall be payable on the presentation of such documents.

PENALTIES

Every registering officer appointed under this Act and every person employed in his office for the purposes of this Act, who, being charged with the endorsing, copying, translating or registering of any document presented or deposited under its provisions, endorses, copies, translates or registers such document in a manner which he knows or believes to be incorrect, intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause injury, as defined in the Indian Penal Code to any person, shall he punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both.

Whoever commits any of the following offences shall he punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to seven years, or with fine, or with both:

(a) Making false statements before registering officer. intentionally makes any false statement, whether on oath or not, and whether it has been recorded or not, before any officer acting in execution of this Act, in any proceeding or enquiry under this Act,

(b) Delivering false copy or translation. intentionally delivers to a registering officer in any proceeding under section nineteen or section twenty-one a false copy or translation of a document, or a false copy of a map or plan,

(c) False personation. falsely personates another, and in such assumed character presents any document, or makes any admission or statement, or causes any summons or commission to he issued, or does any other act in any proceeding or enquiry under this Act,

(d) Abetment of offences under this Act. abets within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code anything made punishable by this Act.

A prosecution for any offence under this Act coming to the knowledge of a registering officer in his official capacity may he instituted by or with the permission of the Inspector General, the Branch Inspector General of Sindh, the Registrar or the Sub-Registrar, in whose territories, District or Sub-District, as the case may he, the offence has been committed.

Offences punishable under this Act shall be triable by any Court or Officer exercising powers not less than those, of a Subordinate Magistrate of the first class:

Provided that in imposing penalties under this Act, no such Court or Officer shall exceed the limits of jurisdiction prescribed by the law for the time being in force as to such Court or Officer.

All fines imposed under this Act may be recovered, if for offences committed outside the limits of the Presidency Towns, in the manner prescribed by the Code of Criminal Procedure, and if for offences committed within those limits, in the manner prescribed by any Act regulating the Police of such Towns for the time being in force.

Every registering officer appointed under this Act shall he deemed a public servant within the meaning of the Indian Penal Code.

Every person shall be legally bound to furnish information to such registering officer when required by him to do so. And in section two hundred and twenty-eight of the same Code, the words judicial proceeding shall include any proceeding under this Act.

MISCELLANEOUS

Documents (other than wills) remaining unclaimed in any registration office, for a period exceeding two years, may be destroyed.

No registering officer shall be liable to any suit, claim or demand by reason of anything in good faith done or refused in his official capacity.

Nothing done in good faith pursuant to this Act, or any Act hereby repealed, by any registering officer, shall he deemed invalid merely by reason of any defect in his appointment or procedure.

Notwithstanding anything herein contained, it shall not be necessary for any officer of Government, or for the Administrator General of Bengal, Madras or Bombay, or for any Official Trustee, or for the Sheriff, Receiver or Registrar of a High Court, to appear in person or by agent at any registration office in any proceeding connected with the registration of any instrument executed by him in his official capacity, or to sign as provided in section fifty-eight.

But when any instrument is so executed, the registering officer to whom such instrument is presented for registration may, if he think fit, refer to any Secretary to Government or to such officer of Government, Administrator General, Official Trustee, Sheriff, Receiver or Registrar, as the case may be, for information respecting the same, and, on being satisfied flied of the execution thereof, shall register the instrument.

Nothing contained in this Act or any Act hereby repealed shall he deemed to require, or to have at any time required, the registration of any of the following documents or maps:

(a.) Documents issued, received, or attested by any officer engaged in making a settlement or revision of settlement of land revenue, and which form part of the records of such settlement.

(b.) Documents and maps issued, received, or authenticated by any officer engaged on behalf of Government in making or revising the survey of any land, and which form part of the record of such survey.

(c.) Documents which, under any law for the time being in force, are filed periodically in any revenue office by patwaris or other officers charged with the preparation of village records.

(d.) Sanads, inarn title-deed, and other documents purporting to he or to evidence grants or assignments by Government of land or of any interest in land.

But all such documents and maps shall, for the purposes of sections forty-eight and forty-nine, he deemed to have been and to be registered in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Subject to such rules and the previous payment of such fees as the Local Government from time to time prescribes in this behalf, all documents and maps mentioned in section eighty-seven, clauses (a), (b) and (c), and all registers of the documents mentioned in clause (d), shall he open to the inspection of any person applying to inspect the same, and, subject as aforesaid, copies of such documents shall he given to all persons applying for such copies.

From the first of July to the first of October 1871, in the territories respectively administered by the Chief Commissioners of Oudh and British Burma, a power of attorney not duly executed according to the provisions of section thirty-three shall, notwithstanding anything therein contained, be deemed to have been duly executed under the provisions of the same section, if the registering officer is satisfied that it has been executed in good faith, and if a power of attorney attested under the provisions of this Act cannot be obtained within the time during which the document sought to be registered can, under such provisions, be accepted for registration.

All rules relating to registration heretofore enforced in British Burma shall be deemed to have had the force of law, and no suit or other proceeding shall he maintained against any officer or other person in respect of any thing done under any of the said rules.

FIRST SCHEDULE

(See Section 2)

SECOND SCHEDULE

Forms of petition under Section 73.

To the Judge of the District Court [or To the Deputy Commissioner] of

The day of 18.

The petition of A.B. of

Sheweth

1. That by an instrument dated the day of and made between C.D. of the one part and your petitioner of the other part, certain lands were conveyed to your petitioner absolutely.

2. That such instrument was executed by the said C.D. on the day of 18.

3. That the property to which such instrument relates is situate in the Sub-District of the; Sub-Registrar of and in the District of.

4. That on the day of your petitioner presented the said instrument for registration under The Indian Registration Act, 1871 in the office; of the said Sub-Registrar.

5. That the said Sub-Registrar thereupon, made an order of refusal, dated the day of 18, to register the said instrument and gave your petitioner a copy, which is filed herewith, of the reasons for such order.

6. That your petitioner on the day of appealed to the Registrar of against such order.

7. That the said Registrar thereupon made an order of refusal, dated the day of to direct the registration of the said instrument and gave your petitioner a copy, which is filed herewith, of the reasons for such order.

8. That the reasons referred to in paragraphs 5 and 7 of this petition are, as your petitioner submits, insufficient.

Your petitioner therefore prays that your Honour will order the said Sub-Registrar to register the said instrument.

A.B.

To the Judge of the District Court [or To the Deputy Commissioner] of

The day of 18.

The petition of A.B. of

Sheweth

1. That by an instrument dated the day of and made between C.D. of the one part and your petitioner of the other part, certain lands were conveyed to your petitioner by way of mortgage to secure the sum of one thousand rupees.

2. That such instrument was executed by the said C.D. on the day of 18.

3. That the property to which such instrument relates is situate in the Sub-District of the Sub-Registrar, of and in the District of

4. That on the day of your petitioner presented the said instrument for registration under the Indian Registration Act, 1871, in the office of the said Sub-Registrar, and the said C.D. appeared personally before the said Sub-Registrar and falsely denied the execution of the said instrument.

5. That the said Sub-Registrar thereupon made an order of refusal dated the day of 18 to register the said instrument and gave your petitioner a copy, which is filed herewith, of the reasons for such order.

6. That your petitioner has complied with the requirements of the said Act so far as it has been possible for him to do so.

Your petitioner therefore prays that your Honour will order the said Sub-Registrar to register the said instrument.

A.B.

I, A.B., the petitioner named in the above petition, do declare that what is stated therein is true to the best of my information and belief.

(Signed) A.B.