Statutory reconveyance: registration timing and substantial compliance with deed-attachment requirements protected the applicant's claim.

The statutory right of reconveyance accrues only after a completed transfer, and registration is complete only on compliance with the Registration Act formalities; however, a co-sharer's application was not invalid where the Collector dealt with it only after registration was completed. The requirement to annex a copy of the registered deed under the Bihar Ceiling Rules was held directory, because its purpose was merely to supply information to the Collector. A certified copy of the sale deed presented for registration was treated as substantial compliance. The omission to file the registered deed was therefore not fatal, and the reconveyance claim was upheld.

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Issues: (i) Whether an application by a co-sharer under section 16(3) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act was premature or beyond the Collector's jurisdiction because it was filed before completion of registration of the sale deed. (ii) Whether failure to annex a copy of the registered deed, and instead annexing a certified copy of the unregistered sale deed, invalidated the application under rule 19 of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Rules, 1963.

Issue (i): Whether an application by a co-sharer under section 16(3) of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Act was premature or beyond the Collector's jurisdiction because it was filed before completion of registration of the sale deed.

Analysis: The right of reconveyance under section 16(3) accrues when there is a completed transfer, and under the Registration Act a sale is complete only when registration is completed by the certificate under section 60 and the endorsements under section 61. The relation-back effect of section 47 does not make the transfer complete before registration for the purpose of exercising the statutory right. On the facts, however, the Collector first dealt with the application only after registration had been completed, so the application was not entertained before the transfer became complete.

Conclusion: The application was not invalid on the ground that it was premature or beyond the Collector's jurisdiction.

Issue (ii): Whether failure to annex a copy of the registered deed, and instead annexing a certified copy of the unregistered sale deed, invalidated the application under rule 19 of the Bihar Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling Area and Acquisition of Surplus Land) Rules, 1963.

Analysis: The deposit of the purchase money with the additional ten per cent, the applicant's status as co-sharer or adjoining raiyat, and the existence of the transfer were treated as conditions precedent, but the requirement of annexing a copy of the registered deed was held to be directory. Its object was only to furnish the Collector with necessary information to decide the application. Where the registered copy was not yet available, a certified copy of the sale deed presented for registration supplied sufficient information and amounted to substantial compliance.

Conclusion: The omission to annex the registered deed was not fatal and did not vitiate the application or the proceedings.

Final Conclusion: The statutory right of reconveyance was upheld, and the dismissal by the higher revenue authorities was set aside in favour of the applicant.

Ratio Decidendi: In proceedings for statutory reconveyance, the prerequisites that go to the existence of the right and the Collector's jurisdiction must be strictly satisfied, but procedural requirements intended only to furnish information are directory and may be complied with substantially.

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