[Registration Act] Delay Beyond Control Of Party Excluded While Calculating Limitation For Registering Document: Bombay HC

The Bombay High Court has held that the period during which a party is restrained by a court order, from executing or registering a document must be excluded while computing the time limit for presentation under the Registration Act, 1908.

The Court accordingly directed the registration of two agreements for sale executed in 2018, rejecting the Registrar's refusal on the ground of limitation.

The Division Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale was hearing writ petitions filed under Article 226 by Grand Centrum Realty LLP, which had entered into two agreements for sale dated March 6, 2018, with a public charitable trust.

Subsequently, litigation was initiated by parties having an adverse interest in the properties concerned. On April 26, 2018, the Court passed an interim order restraining the execution of conveyances. The agreements were not presented for registration during the pendency of that litigation. The interim order was vacated only on May 8, 2025, and the petitioner presented the documents for registration on June 16, 2025. The Sub-Registrar rejected the registration, citing Section 23 of the Registration Act, which mandates presentation within four months of execution.

The Petitioner contended that if a document in a given situation cannot be presented for registration within the period of four months prescribed under Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908, then it can still be accepted for registration beyond the prescribed period.

Allowing the petitions, the Court held:

“The period between 26th April 2018... and 8th May 2025 must be excluded for the purpose of calculation of the period of limitation under the provisions of the Registration Act.”

The Court noted that a legal right accrued to a party to get a document registered as per the provisions of the Registration Act cannot stand defeated when reasons exist which are beyond the control of the party presenting the document for registration.

The Court observed that the delay was purely attributable to the continued restraint order passed by a Court of law. Thus, the entire period available for the Petitioner to present the documents for registration, excluding the period of existence of the restraint order, does not exceed a total period of four months.

“In these circumstances, the bonafide delay beyond the control of the Petitioner, clearly not attributable to any intentional or deliberate act or negligence on the part of the Petitioner, would be required to be excluded in permitting the Petitioner to avail registration of the documents in question,” the court observed.

Accordingly, the Court quashed the Registrar's orders and directed that both agreements dated March 6, 2018, be accepted for registration under the Registration Act.

Case Title: Grand Centrum Realty LLP v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. [Writ Petition Nos. 8411 & 8412 of 2025]

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