Supreme Court Rules Non-Production of Power of Attorney Not Fatal to Validity of Sale Deed

In a recent judgment, the Supreme Court of India has clarified that the non-production of a power of attorney in a suit is not fatal to the validity of a sale deed executed through a power of attorney. The court emphasized that the production of the original power of attorney is not an indispensable requirement to establish the validity of the execution of a sale deed.

The case, titled Dhirendra Chandra Saha and Another v. Sarat Chandra Majumdar and Others, involved the validity of a sale deed executed by the plaintiff, Dhirendra Chandra Saha, through a power of attorney. The defendants had challenged the sale deed, arguing that the power of attorney was not produced in the suit and therefore the execution of the sale deed was invalid.

Justice B.V. Nagarathna, delivering the judgment on 13th January 2023, observed that the registration of a document is a solemn act and the recitals of a registered document are presumed to be valid unless strong evidence is presented to the contrary. The court held that the statutory presumption of validity under Section 60 of the Registration Act could be invoked when all the requirements of executing a sale deed are complied with.

Furthermore, the court referred to Section 32(c) of the Registration Act, which authorizes the agent of a person, representative, or assignee to present a document for registration. It noted that the person executing the document, in this case, the power of attorney holder, does not require a power of attorney to present the document. The court clarified that the power of attorney holder need not produce the original document conferring power of attorney before the Sub-Registrar at the time of registration.

The court cited the case of Amar Nath v. Gian Chand and Another, wherein it was held that a sale deed executed through a power of attorney would not be liable to be disturbed solely on the ground that the power of attorney was not produced before the Sub-Registrar.

In this case, the defendants failed to produce any evidence to rebut the presumption of validity of the sale deed executed through the power of attorney. The court noted that the defendants had accepted the findings of the Trial Court and First Appellate Court, which concluded that they had no title over the suit land. The original owner of the property also did not dispute the execution of the power of attorney.

Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the High Court, which decreed the suit in favor of the plaintiff. The court held that the non-production of the power of attorney in the suit was not fatal to the case of the plaintiff, and the sale deed executed through the power of attorney was valid.

Date of Decision: 13th January, 2023

Manik Majumder and Others   VS Dipak Kumar Saha (Dead) through Lrs. & Others