After SC directive, TN govt says original documents mandatory for registrations

CHENNAI: The state government on Monday tabled a bill in the Assembly to amend the Registration Act 1908. The bill seeks to prevent fraud, forgery and impersonisation in the registration of immovable properties by mandating the production of original documents or a non-traceable certificate from the police along with the newspaper advertisement giving notice of the loss.

The amendment has been proposed following a Supreme Court judgment on April 7, 2025, which struck down Rule 55-A of the Tamil Nadu Registration Rules, 1949, that mandates the production of the original title deed or other records specified at the time of registration relating to immovable properties.

Tabling the bill in the Assembly, Registration Minister P Moorthy, said that to achieve the object behind the said rule 55-A by giving legal sanctity in the registration of documents, the government has decided to incorporate suitable provisions in the Registration Act, 1908, by way of a State amendment.

The bill seeks to insert a new section, ‘34-C, Production of original documents’. It mandates that the registering officer should register immovable properties on production of the “previous original document by which the right over the subject property was acquired by him, along with the encumbrance certificate obtained within ten days before the date of presentation, by the executant.”

If the property was ancestral and the previous original document was not available, the registering officer would not register the document unless the patta issued by the Revenue Department was produced.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties, including AIADMK, Congress, PMK and CPI proposed amendments to the state government’s bill to amend the Tamil Nadu Shops and Establishments Act, 1947. However, the CPM opposed the bills at the introduction stage itself.

Labour Minister CV Ganesan introduced the bill on Monday that seeks to decriminalise the offences under the 1947 Act by replacing the punishments of imprisonment and fine with penalties and to establish an adjudication and appellate mechanism for ease of doing business.

Urban Development Minister

S Muthusamy introduced a bill further to amend the Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act that seeks to create a new post of Commissioner of Urban Development and the appointment of a member secretary of the CUMTA as an ex-officio member of the CMDA.

Rural Development Minister I Periyasamy introduced a bill amending the Tamil Nadu Panchayat Acts, 1994, to regulate the erection of hoardings, digital banners or placards, in the rural local bodies, by inserting a new chapter in this regard.