VoxJuris
Home › Acts › Registration Act, 1908 › Section 17

Registration Act, 1908

Section 17: Documents of which registration is compulsory

(1) The following documents shall be registered, if the property to which they relate is situate in a district in which, and if they have been executed on or after the date on which, Act No. XVI of 1864, or the Indian Registration Act, 1866, or the Indian Registration Act, 1871, or the Indian Registration Act, 1877, or this Act came or comes into force, namely:—

(a) instruments of gift of immovable property;

(b) other non-testamentary instruments which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property;

(c) non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest; and

(d) leases of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year, or reserving a yearly rent;

[(e) non-testamentary instruments transferring or assigning any decree or order of a Court or any award when such decree or order or award purports or operates to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property:]

Provided that the [State Government] may, by order published in the [Official Gazette], exempt from the operation of this sub-section any lease executed in any district, or part of a district, the terms granted by which do not exceed five years and the annual rents reserved by which do not exceed fifty rupees.

[(1A) The documents containing contracts to transfer for consideration, any immovable property for the purpose of section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882) shall be registered if they have been executed on or after the commencement of the Registration and Other Related laws (Amendment) Act, 2001 (48 of 2001) and if such documents are not registered on or after such commencement, then, they shall have no effect for the purposes of the said section 53A.]

(2) Nothing in clauses (b) and (c) of sub-section (1) applies to—

(i) any composition deed; or

(ii) any instrument relating to shares in a joint stock Company, notwithstanding that the assets of such Company consist in whole or in part of immovable property; or

(iii) any debenture issued by any such Company and not creating, declaring, assigning, limiting or extinguishing any right, title or interest, to or in immovable property except in so far as it entitles the holder to the security afforded by a registered instrument whereby the Company has mortgaged, conveyed or otherwise transferred the whole or part of its immovable property or any interest therein to trustees upon trust for the benefit of the holders of such debentures; or

(iv) any endorsement upon or transfer of any debenture issued by any such Company; or

(v) [any document other than the documents specified in sub-section (1A)] not itself creating, declaring, assigning, limiting or extinguishing any right, title or interest of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards to or in immovable property, but merely creating a right to obtain another document which will, when executed, create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish any such right, title or interest; or

(vi) any decree or order of a Court [except a decree or order expressed to be made on a compromise and comprising immovable property other than that which is the subject-matter of the suit or proceeding]; or

(vii) any grant of immovable property by [Government]; or

(viii) any instrument of partition made by a Revenue-Officer; or

(ix) any order granting a loan or instrument of collateral security granted under the Land Improvement Act, 1871, or the Land Improvement Loans Act, 1883; or

(x) any order granting a loan under the Agriculturists, Loans Act, 1884, or instrument for securing the repayment of a loan made under that Act; or

[(xa) any order made under the Charitable Endowments Act, 1890 (6 of 1890), vesting any property in a Treasurer of Charitable Endowments or divesting any such Treasurer of any property; or]

(xi) any endorsement on a mortgage-deed acknowledging the payment of the whole or any part of the mortgage-money, and any other receipt for payment of money due under a mortgage when the receipt does not purport to extinguish the mortgage; or

(xii) any certificate of sale granted to the purchaser of any property sold by public auction by a Civil or Revenue-Officer.

[Explanation.—A document purporting or operating to effect a contract for the sale of immovable property shall not be deemed to require or ever to have required registration by reason only of the fact that such document contains a recital of the payment of any earnest money or of the whole or any part of the purchase money.]

(3) Authorities to adopt a son, executed after the 1st day of January, 1872, and not conferred by a will, shall also be registered.

State amendments to this section

Kerala

Amendment of section 17. —In section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act 16 of 1908) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act),—

(i) in sub-section (1), after clause (e), the following clauses shall be inserted, namely:—

(f) Instruments purporting or operating to effect a contract for the sale of immovable property of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards;

(g) Power of attorney creating any power or right of management, administration, development, transfer or any other transaction relating to immovable property of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards other than those executed in favour of father, mother, wife, husband, son, adopted son, daughter, adopted daughter, brother, sister, son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the executant.;

(ii) in sub-section (2), the Explanation shall be omitted.

[Vide Kerala Act 31 of 2013, s. 2]

Kerala

Amendment of section 17.—-In sub-section (2) of section 17 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act 16 of 1908) (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act), clause (ix) and (x) shall be omitted.

[Vide kerala Act 7 of 1968, s. 2]

Orissa

Amendment of section 17.— In section 17 of the principal Act, in sub-section (1), after clause (e), the following clauses shall be inserted before the proviso, namely:—

(f) agreement to sell immovable property possession whereof has been or is handed over to the purported purchaser;

(g) power of-attorney relating to transfer of immovable property possession whereof has been or is handed over to the purported attorney holder.

[Vide Orissa Act 8 of 2002, s. 3]

Rajasthan

Amendment of section 17, Central Act XVI of 1908.—In sub-section (2) of section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act XVI of 1908), in its application to the State of Rajasthan, hereinafter referred to as the principal Act-

(a) for the full-stop at the end of clause (xii) a comma and the word,or shall be substituted; and

(b) after clause (xii) as so amended, the following clause shall be added. namely :-

"(xiii) any instrument referred to in sub-section (5) of section 89."

[Vide Rajasthan Act 16 of 1976, s. 2]

Amendment of section 17, Central Act 16 of 1908.—In section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 (Central Act 16 of 1908), in its application to the State of Rajasthan, hereinafter referred to as the principal Act,-

(a) in sub-section (1), after clause (e), and before the proviso, the following clauses shall be added, namely:-

"(f) agreement to sell immovable property possession where of has been or is handed over to the purported purchaser;

(g) irrevocable power of attorney relating to transfer of immovable property in any way;";and

(b) in sub-section (2), the existing Explanation shall be omitted.

[Vide Rajasthan Act 18 of 1989, s. 2]

Gujarat

Amendment of section 17 of XVI of 1908.—In the Registration Act, 1908, in its application to the State of Gujarat (hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act"), in section 17,—

(i) in sub-section (1),—

(a) for clause (f), the following clause shall be substituted, namely:—

"(f) power of attorney intending to administer, manage and/or alienate immovable property in any manner, executed on or after the commencement of the Registration (Gujarat Amendment) Act, 2016(Guj.16 of 2016);":

(b) after clause (j), the following clause shall be added, namely:—

"(k) sale certificate issued by any competent officer or authority under any central Act or State Act for the time being in force.";

(ii) in sub-section (2), clause (xii) shall be deleted.

[Vide Gujarat Act 4 of 2020, s. 2]

Source: India Code (indiacode.gov.in), the consolidated text published by the Legislative Department, Government of India. Text as updated on India Code on 15 October 2026. Words in square brackets [ ] were inserted or substituted by later amending Acts, and *** marks words omitted by an amendment. The amendment footnotes are not reproduced here. Official text on India Code.

Supreme Court judgments citing the section 17