Title of property cannot be transferred without registered sale deed: Chandigarh court

The Chandigarh District Court has dismissed a suit seeking a declaration for the transfer of property title based on an Agreement to Sale and a Will of the owner.

The suit was filed by Kailash Garg, a resident of Chandigarh.

Garg claimed that he had purchased a dwelling unit from the late Atul Gupta in November 2016 for Rs 60 lakh through an Agreement to Sell.

He said that he had taken care of Gupta in his last days and that a Will was executed in his favour on the same day, registered with the Sub-Registrar, Sector 17, Chandigarh on November 8, 2016.

Garg argued that he had approached the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) to get the property transferred in his name, but the Board refused.

However, counsel for the CHB, Vikas Jain, contended that the suit was not maintainable. He submitted that the dwelling unit had been allotted to Gupta on September 17, 2009, possession was given on March 16, 2010, and a No Dues Certificate (NDC) was issued on December 9, 2015.

Jain argued that a declaration of title could not be made solely on the basis of an Agreement to Sell and a Will, as doing so would violate public policy.

The court observed that the case raised a legal question regarding the maintainability of a title declaration based merely on an Agreement to Sell and a Will executed on the same day.

It noted that executing a Will immediately after the sale suggested an attempt to circumvent stamp duty and taxes payable on property transfers.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s ‘Suraj Lamp’ judgment, the court concluded that the suit was not maintainable and dismissed it.