A short note: what the Court held about “SA/GPA/Will” transfers, and what it did not do.
Case note
- Material facts
- An earlier order in the same special leave petition (2009) drew attention to the practice of 'selling' property through a sale agreement, general power of attorney and will instead of a registered sale deed. The Court heard an amicus curiae and the governments of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
- Issue
- Whether SA/GPA/Will transactions transfer title to immovable property, and how they should be treated by authorities.
- What was decided
- Immovable property can be transferred only by a registered deed of conveyance. An agreement of sale does not create an interest in the property (apart from the protection of Section 53A, Transfer of Property Act). A power of attorney is not a transfer; a will takes effect only on death. SA/GPA/Will transactions are not completed sales and cannot be the basis for mutation or for municipal records. The Court said it was restating settled law. It stated that genuine powers of attorney (for example to family members, or under development agreements) are not affected, and that earlier SA/GPA/Will transactions may still be relied on as agreements, for specific performance, to defend possession under Section 53A, or for regularisation by development authorities; mutations already made need not be disturbed.
- Order / relief actually given
- Having decided the general question, the Court directed that the special leave petition be listed for disposal on its own merits. The text we read does not record the outcome of that later listing.
- Later proceedings
- Later proceedings in the same petition were not checked.