HC pulls up authorities over land and property records going missing from govt office

New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has expressed “enormous concern” over a large volume of land and property records going missing from a sub-registrar’s office and sought the presence of the city government’s Inspector General of Registration before it.

The high court said the function of the sub-registrars is to register various documents related to assets of the citizens and it cannot be treated in a “cavalier and negligent manner”.

“Moreover, considering that these documents could be misused for sale-purchase transactions also raises serious concerns about the credibility and integrity of preservation of land records related to citizens.

“Despite having knowledge of all the facts, none of the authorities appear to have be taken any action in this regard,” Justice Prathiba M Singh said.

The high court directed the Principal Secretary, Revenue, of the Delhi Government to join the court proceedings on February 8, the next date of hearing.

The court’s order came while hearing a plea by an entity, Monk Estates Private Limited, seeking an enquiry into the missing records of execution and registration of its land from the sub-registrar’s office and to re-construct the same.

According to the petitioner, it had registered six sale deeds in November, 1994 in respect of certain agricultural lands and the registered copies of the sale deeds were obtained. However, the original registered sale deeds were lost in 2013 and an FIR was lodged.

When it applied for certified copies, it was given only one registered sale deed and a letter was issued on December 31, 2013 stating that the remaining documents were not traceable.

Thereafter, the petitioner filed an RTI application and the sub-registrar’s office in a letter of October 18, 2021 informed it that the documents were not available.

An FIR was then lodged with the police on May 1, 2019 regarding the loss or non-availability of the said records.

The high court said the petition raised extremely serious and perturbing issues in respect of land and property related documents and the manner in which they are being registered, certified and preserved by the sub-registrars in Delhi.

It noted that the petition raised issues of enormous concern, inasmuch as the FIR, which has been registered, reveals that a large volume of records of the sub-registrar office have gone missing.

The judge said the fact that an FIR was registered after a delay of 14 years proves that the documents are not being kept in safe custody and that a large number of officials would be liable to be blamed for the missing documents.

The court directed the authorities to place on record the list of sub-registrars and other officials who were deputed to the office of the sub-registrar in question since January 1, 2005.

“In addition, status of the FIR dated May 1, 2019 shall also be placed on record by the Respondents,” it said.