Registration Act, 1908, Stamp Act and Limitation Act, 1963
What the exam tests
This cluster tests formalities that decide admissibility and the time limits that decide maintainability. A single missed distinction, such as between a document that is void and one that is merely inadmissible, changes the result.
Core rules
- Registration Act Section 17(1) compels registration of gifts of immovable property, sales of property of Rs 100 or more, leases exceeding one year, and other specified instruments; wills and short leases are optional under Section 17(2) and Section 18.
- Section 49: an unregistered document required to be registered is inadmissible as evidence of a transaction affecting immovable property, but may be used for collateral purposes, and the proviso permits its use to prove part performance under Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act.
- Section 23: documents must be presented within four months of execution; Section 47 gives priority from the date of execution, not registration.
- Stamp Act Sections 35 and 36: an insufficiently stamped instrument is inadmissible until impounded and duty with penalty is paid, after which it is admitted.
- Limitation Act Section 3 bars suits instituted after the prescribed period; Section 5 applies only to appeals and applications; Section 14 excludes time spent in a court without jurisdiction in good faith; Section 18 gives a fresh period from a signed acknowledgment made before expiry.
- Key articles: Article 54, specific performance, three years; Article 58, declaration, three years; Article 65, possession of immovable property on title, twelve years; Article 61, redemption of mortgage, thirty years.
Worked example
A debtor signs a letter admitting the debt two months before the three-year period expires. Under Section 18 a fresh period of three years runs from the date of acknowledgment, provided the writing is signed and made before expiry; a mere oral admission has no such effect.
Traps
Arguing that an unregistered agreement to sell is wholly useless, ignoring collateral use and Section 53A; and attempting to invoke Section 5 to condone delay in a suit, which is not permitted.