00:00Hello everyone, this is advocate Alisha Munga, legal associate at NRI Legal Services.
00:05Today in this video, I will discuss a recent judgment passed by the Supreme Court of India
00:11titled as Amarnath v. Gyanchan.
00:14This judgment highlights that the production of the original power of attorney is not necessary
00:19if the document is presented for registration by the attorney holder who executed the document
00:25on the strength of it.
00:27To know more about the case synopsis, please watch the video till the end.
00:32The subject matter involved in this case is that an appeal was filed in the Supreme Court
00:37of India against the Order of the High Court of Himacharya Pradesh which held that the production
00:43of the original power of attorney was necessary for the execution of the sale deed under section
00:4818 of the Registration Act 1908.
00:52Now, I will give you an overview of the facts of the case.
00:56The plaintiff entered into an oral agreement with the buyer for the sale of his property
01:02for a consideration of Rs. 55,000.
01:05Thereafter, he executed a power of attorney in the favour of the attorney holder who is
01:10the second defendant in this matter.
01:12When the buyer failed to make arrangement of the money for the execution of the sale deed,
01:18the plaintiff cancelled the sale agreement and thereafter, the attorney holder surrendered
01:24the original power of attorney to the plaintiff.
01:27However, the attorney holder applied a copy of the power of attorney and fraudulently in
01:34connivance with the defendant entered into the sale agreement for Rs. 30,000.
01:38The plaintiff contended that as the power of attorney stood cancelled, such a sale agreement
01:45should be declared as null and void.
01:48The plaintiff further filed a case of declaration by the way of permanent injunction that he is
01:54owner in possession of the sued property.
01:57The High Court held that as the original power of attorney stood cancelled, the attorney holder
02:02was not competent to enter into the sale agreement with the buyer.
02:06The High Court further decided the matter in favour of the plaintiff and declared the imitation
02:12done as null and void.
02:14After the judgment of the High Court, the stance taken by the counsel of the buyer was that
02:20a registered power of attorney should have been only cancelled or terminated by following
02:25a due procedure of the law.
02:27He further laid stress on Section 32A of the Registration Act to state that under the power
02:33of attorney given by the plaintiff, the second defendant was well within his right to execute
02:38the sale deed.
02:39On the other hand side, the counsel of the plaintiff laid stress upon Section 33 Subclause 4 of the
02:46Registration Act which contemplates that the production of the original power of attorney
02:51was necessary for the execution of the sale deed.
02:54The counsel for the plaintiff also stated that the entire process of making an application
03:00to procure the copy of the power of attorney, its preparation, the receipts clearly shows
03:05fraud and collusion between the defendants, the sub-registrar and other officials of the
03:12registering authority.
03:14After the judgment of the High Court, two issues were raised for the consideration of the Supreme Court.
03:20Firstly, whether the production of the original power of attorney before the registering authority
03:25was necessary for the execution of the sale and secondly, whether the attorney holders surrendered
03:32the original power of attorney.
03:34Both these issues have been discussed in the judgment given by the Supreme Court.
03:39I will now discuss the judgment of the Supreme Court along with the final decision arrived
03:44at by the Court.
03:45The Apex Court firstly noted the point that the state Himachal Pradesh where the case initially
03:52arises, the government by making an amendment to the Registration Act inserted a Section 18A
03:59which contemplates the production of the original copy of the document which is sought to be registered.
04:07Please note, in the present case, it was the sale deed that was sought to be registered and
04:12not the power of attorney.
04:14Hence, the High Court erred in its decision that the production of the original power of
04:19attorney was necessary for the execution of the sale deed.
04:23Further, the Supreme Court in line with the provisions of the Registration Act rejected the
04:30contention of the plaintiff that the production of original power of attorney was very necessary
04:35for the execution of the sale deed.
04:37Now, deciding the second issue, the Supreme Court referred to a letter which was sent by
04:44the plaintiff to the attorney holder in which he is instructing the attorney holder to have
04:50in with the sale process as he in the dire need of money.
04:54In this letter, there is no mention of cancellation of POA or its surrender.
05:00The Supreme Court, referring to the contents of the letter, said that merely writing the
05:07word cancelled on the original power of attorney wouldn't make it null and void.
05:12The Supreme Court thus set aside the judgment of the High Court.
05:17In concluding the judgment, the Supreme Court said that the production of the document which
05:23is sought to be registered is necessary for production before the registering authority.
05:29The intention of this judgment is in line with Section 18A of the Registration Act which
05:35is to save the common people from unnecessary paperwork in the property matters.
05:40Thus, considering this judgment, I would advise my NRI friends who have executed power of attorney
05:47in the favour of their friends or relatives for the look after their property or other
05:51things to follow a proper procedure of revocation.
05:55Please understand that by simply tearing the original power of attorney, merely writing the
06:00word cancel, striking of the power of attorney or taking the original back from the attorney
06:06holder will not meet the requirements of the revocation process.
06:10For your convenience, I will briefly describe the steps involved in the revocation process.
06:16Firstly, a proper revocation deed needs to be made of the power of attorney and the same
06:21needs to be registered with the concerned authorities.
06:24Secondly, a legal notice should be sent to the attorney holder along with the registered
06:30cancellation deed.
06:32In addition to these two steps, a publication can be done in the local newspaper in the area
06:38where the attorney holder results.
06:41I hope the information provided in today's video was helpful.
06:45If you have any queries related to this topic or any other legal topic, you can write us an
06:51email on query at the rate nrilegalservices.com.
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