Property registration in many parts of city held up

Property registration in many parts of city held up
The Hindu

Move to prevent possible undervaluation, ambiguity in rules

# Registration of property not carried out for close to a month
# Worst affected are Chickpet, Balepet, Cottonpet, Mavalli and some localities around Lakkasandra, Madivala

BANGALORE: Registration of property transactions in the older parts of the city has come to a grinding halt for close to a month. Many new norms announced by the Government to tighten registration and prevent possible undervaluation and ambiguity in some of the rules, is said to be the reason.

According to realtors, the worst affected are property in areas such as Chickpet, Balepet, Cottonpet, Mavalli and some localities around Lakkasandra and Madivala. These areas were developed well before the City Improvement Trust Board and its successor, the Bangalore Development Authority, came into being. One reason behind the move is said to be a Revenue Department circular to all Sub-Registrars containing answers to 20 "frequently asked questions."

The circular issued on August 25 made it clear that no registration should be carried out without supporting documents, land conversion certificates where necessary and approval from competent revenue authorities. Registration of all documents received by Sub-Registrar's offices after May 5, 2005 has to follow the terms of the circular.

Registration of property in the 27 wards added to the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike and BDA limits in 1995 have also come to a stop.

The newly added wards include Sanjaynagar, Hebbal, Sagayapuram, C.V. Raman Nagar, Devarajeevanahalli, Lingarajapuram, Paadarayanapura, Attiguppe, Amar Jyoti Nagar and Marenahalli. The layouts in these areas are decades old but were not approved by competent authorities such as the BDA or BMRDA.

The circular also refers to the Karnataka High Court's ruling on a case in 1992 that agricultural land within BMP limits is "deemed to be converted." The circular disputes this but admits that the authority competent to grant conversion can do so if applied for.

Cabinet decision

The State Cabinet was expected to take a decision on making property registration norms within the BMP limits easier, but no announcement was made and apparently no decision was taken. According to senior officials, the earlier notification issued on April 24 that no property will be registered if it is developed on revenue sites without proper land conversion and layout approval, remains unchanged.