IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) FRIDAY, THE NINETEENTH DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.2263 of 2001 Between: 1. P. Narasimha Reddy, S/o. Narayan Reddy, R/o. Devaryamjal Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. 2. P. Bhoopal Reddy, S/o. Narayan Reddy, R/o. Devaryamjal Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Sub-Registrar, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. 2 The Mandal Revenue Officer, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. 3 The District Registrar, Ranga Reddy District, Moosapet at Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other appropriate writ or writ, order or direction declaring the proceedings No.B/29/91, dated 10.03.1993 issued by the 1st Respondent as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and without authority of law and consequently set aside the order dated 25.01.2001 passed by the 3rd Respondent in Appeal No.3 of 1997 conﬁrming the order dated 05.12.1996 passed by the 1st respondent. Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.K.RAJI REDDY Counsel for the Respondent No.: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : HONOURABLE SRI JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.2263 OF 2001 O R D E R The petitioners in the present writ petition challenge the proceedings No.B/29/91, dated 10.03.1993 issued by the Mandal Revenue oﬃcer, Shameerpet Mandal, the second respondent herein, as illegal, arbitrary and unconstitutional and seek a direction to consequently set aside the order dated 25.01.2001 passed by the District Registrar, Ranga Reddy District, Moosapet at Hyderabad, the third respondent herein, in Appeal No.3 of 1997, conﬁrming the order dated 05.12.1996 passed by the Sub-Registrar, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, the ﬁrst respondent herein, refusing to register the partition deed presented by the petitioners herein for registration. The facts of the case as shown in the aﬃdavit ﬁled in support of the writ petition are that the petitioners, being the joint owners and possessors of various agricultural lands situated at Devaryamjal Village, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District, eﬀected a partition of the said properties between themselves and subsequently reduced the same into writing. The said document of partition was presented for registration on 22.08.1996, but the ﬁrst respondent herein is said to have refused to register the same on the ground that he had received a letter dated 10.03.1993 from the second respondent directing him not to entertain any document in respect of the survey numbers mentioned in the said letter dated 10.02.1993. In response to the petitioners’ legal notice, the ﬁrst respondent passed an order dated 05.12.1996 placing on record his refusal to register the document. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioners ﬁled an Appeal before the third respondent herein, who conﬁrmed the order under appeal by his order dated 25.01.2001, constraining the petitioners to approach this Court by way of the present writ petition. No counter-affidavit is filed. Heard Sri Meherchand Nori, learned counsel representing Sri K.Raji Reddy, Advocate, for the petitioners. The learned counsel for the petitioners submitted that the issue raised in the present writ petition is no longer res integra inasmuch as this Court has given several pronouncements with regard to the right of the registering authorities to refuse to register a document in the absence of a notiﬁcation under Section 22-A(1) of the Registration Act, 1908 (for short, ‘the Act’). Reference may be made to the order of a Division Bench of this Court in THE SUB-REGISTRAR, SHAMEERPET (M), RANGA REDDY DISTRICT V/s. K.RAMAKRISHNA RAJU[1], wherein the Bench rejected the appeal of the authorities holding that in the absence of any notiﬁcation issued under Section 22-A(1) of the Act on the ground of public policy, it is not open to the Registrar to refuse to receive and register any document. The learned Division Bench also made it clear that mere registration of the document did not confer any additional right upon an individual over and above what was conveyed under the document. A similar view was taken by a learned Judge of this Court in P.NARASIMHA REDDY V/s. SUB- REGISTRAR, SHAMEERPET MANDAL, RANGA REDDY DISTRICT[2], wherein the learned Judge, after referring to the judgment of the Division Bench in THE SUB- REGISTRAR, SHAMEERPET (M), RANGA REDDY DISTRICT’s case (1 supra) held that the Sub-Registrar cannot refuse to register a document on the basis of the memos issued by the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer and the Inspector General of Registration and Stamps. In an unreported judgment in SAGIRAJU VENKATASURAPARAJU V/s. THE MANDAL REVENUE OFFICER, SHAMEERPET MANDAL, RANGA REDDY DISTRICT[3], a learned Judge of this Court, once again placed reliance on the Division Bench Judgment of this Court in THE SUB-REGISTRAR, SHAMEERPET (M), RANGA REDDY DISTRICT’s case (1 supra) and reiterated that in the absence of a notification under Section 22-A(1) of the Act, it is not open to the Registering Authorities to refuse to register a document on the basis of extraneous considerations. The facts of the present case are almost identical to the facts in the afore-stated cases inasmuch as the petitioners’ document is denied registration on the ground that the Mandal Revenue Oﬃcer, Shameerpet Mandal, is said to have addressed a letter dated 10.03.1993 stating to the eﬀect that the subject land forms part of temple lands. It is not open to the registering authorities to undertake an enquiry into the nature of the lands or the validity of the title of the persons claiming under the document, at the time of registration of the same. The writ petition is accordingly allowed, setting aside the order dated 25.01.2001 passed by the third respondent herein in Appeal No.3 of 1997 and the Primary Order dated 05.12.1996 passed by the ﬁrst respondent-Sub-Registrar, Shameerpet Mandal, Ranga Reddy District. Consequently, there shall be a direction to the ﬁrst respondent to register the petitioners’ partition deed, subject to the condition that they comply with all other legal formalities and the said document is in order in all other respects. There shall be no order as to costs. ----------------------------- P.V.SANJAY KUMAR,J 19th SEPTEMBER, 2008 PGS THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE P.V.SANJAY KUMAR WRIT PETITION No.2263 of 2001 19TH SEPTEMBER, 2008 [1] W.A.No.707 of 2002, dated 21.07.2004 [2] 2005(4)ALT 260 [3] W.P.NO.26131 OF 2000 (dt. 08.09.2008)