Transactions of Properties through Power of Attorney & Legal Implications : Matter Referred To Larger Bench

Transactions of Properties through Power of Attorney & Legal Implications : Matter Referred To Larger Bench

In the recent case of G. Kalawathi Bai v. G. Shashikala [2025] GCtR 1340 (SC), discussing role of power of attorney in property transactions in the backdrop of S.33 of Registration Act, 1908, the matter has been referred to CJI to constitute a larger Bench. In this case, the GPA was irrevocable and registered yet the said GPA became subject-matter of dispute.

It was also noted that by merely signing a document on behalf of the principal, a power-of-attorney holder does not lose his status as an agent of that principal and become the ‘executant’ in his own right. Such an agent would, therefore, continue to be covered by Section 32(c) of the Registration Act, 1908 as he would then present the signed document for registration only as an agent and must necessarily satisfy the requirements of Sections 32(c), 33, 34 and 35 of the Registration Act and the rules framed in that context. 

It was also held that generally, a power of attorney not only authorizes the power-of-attorney holder to execute documents of transfer, i.e., sale deeds, on behalf of the principal, but further authorizes that power-of-attorney holder to present such sale deeds for registration before the registering officer. 

Therefore, a power-of-attorney holder, having signed the document as an agent of the principal pursuant to the authority conferred on him by the power of attorney, then presents it for registration, having been specifically authorized to do so by the power of attorney, and not because he is the ‘executant’ of the document in terms of Section 32(a) of the Registration Act, 1908. 

Section 34(3) of the Registration Act, 1908 requires the registering officer to conduct a detailed enquiry as to whether the document presented for registration was executed by the persons by whom it ‘purports to have been executed’ and also satisfy himself as to the identity of the persons appearing before him and alleging that they have executed the document. In addition, Section 35(2) of the Registration Act, 1908 posits a duty upon the registering officer to satisfy himself that the persons appearing before him are the persons ‘they represent themselves to be’.