- (1.) The appellant, a septuagenarian, filed an application dated 4.2.2008 in the office of the Sub-Registrar, Bhopal, the third respondent herein, for cancellation of registered documents dated 9.8.2001, 21.4.2004 and 11.7.2006 which pertain to registration of immoveable property situated on Plot No. 7-B, Punjabi Bagh, Raisen Road, Bhopal. As put forth by the appellant in his application, the said plot was allotted to his mother, Smt. Veeravali Anand, by the Punjabi Housing Cooperative Society Ltd. (for short, "the Society"), the fourth respondent herein, by entering into a sale deed dated 22.3.1962, registered on 30.03.1962. Smt. Veeravali Anand expired on 12.6.1988. After her death, the fourth respondent, through its office bearer executed a Deed of Extinguishment on 9.8.2001 unilaterally cancelling the said allotment and on the strength of such document, executed a registered sale deed dated 21.4.2004 in favour of Mrs. Manjit Kaur, the respondent no. 5 herein. Mrs. Manjit Kaur in her turn executed another sale deed dated 11.7.2006 in favour of the respondent nos. 6 and 7, Mrs. Meenakhsi and Mr. S.C. Sharma.
(2.) As is evident, under these circumstances, the appellant moved the Sub- Registrar (Registration) seeking cancellation of the Deed of Extinguishment dated 9.8.2001. The Sub-Registrar rejected the said prayer on two counts, namely, the dispute between the parties was pending before the competent authority under the M.P. Cooperative Societies Act, 1960 (for short 'the 1960 Act') and secondly, his jurisdiction was limited only to the extent of registering the documents and if any party desired its cancellation, then to verify that the cancellation deed is registered on appropriate stamp paper. Thereafter, the appellant filed an application under Section 69 of the Registration Act, 1908 (for brevity, "the Act"), which was rejected by the Inspector General (Registration) stating that the powers conferred on Inspector General (Registration) under Section 69 of the Act is limited to general superintendence of the registration office and making rules and not to provide hearing by any Sub-Registrar. The Inspector General further intimated him that against the order of Sub-Registrar, it was open to the appellant to initiate appropriate proceedings before a Court of competent jurisdiction.
(3.) Being aggrieved by the aforesaid orders, the appellant preferred W.P. No. 13505 of 2008 before the High Court. The prayer in the writ petition was for declaring the Extinguishment Deed as well as the subsequent sale deeds as void ab initio with a further direction to the respondents to record the cancellation of such documents. It was contended before the High Court that the Extinguishment Deed was registered contrary to the provisions contained in Section 17(1)(b) of the Act by the Sub-Registrar and, therefore, it was obligatory on the part of the higher authorities in exercise of powers under Section 69 of the Act to declare the said action as ab initio void and consequently the subsequent sale deeds to be void.;