New steps to check fraud in registration of land documents

According to a circular issued by the Registration Department, the officials should carefully scrutinise the documents to register immovable assets.

“The staff should not retain any original documents in their office for verification. Instead, during the document registration, the officials should properly verify the documents following which the sub-registrar should put his/her signature with the date. The staff should immediately scan the first page of the document that has the signature of the sub-registrar and return the originals to the parties concerned,” it stated, clearly announcing that no originals should be kept at the registrar’s office.

The circular mentioned a significant number of questions raised by the public.

To a question on whether promoters who want to sell their plots and flats should hand over original documents for each registration to the respective registrars, the Registration Department clarified that they need not submit originals for each registration. However, the circular said that when the same plot or flat comes up for resale, then the original documents have to be produced and verified by the department.

An official said the department has been receiving a considerable number of complaints regarding sellers using bogus certificates.

“Such a circular has been issued based on opinions from the public, who unknowingly buy flats and plots, after which they complain of bogus documents,” said an official, adding that they would continue to hold a public hearing meeting to disseminate awareness on the need to curb fake documents.

The Registration Department had earlier this year launched online registration to avoid fake documents and subsequently faced technical snags in the newly-launched system for property registration in registration offices across the state.