Equitable mortgage by deposit of title deeds: letters were only evidentiary, so registration was not required.

A mortgage by deposit of title deeds under Section 58(f) of the Transfer of Property Act arises when deeds are delivered with intent to create security, without need for registration. A written memorandum becomes compulsorily registrable under Section 17 of the Registration Act only if, on its true construction, it is the operative bargain embodying the mortgage itself. The Court treated the letters here as evidence of a completed deposit, not as the instrument creating the charge, because they lacked essential terms and did not show a final written bargain. The equitable mortgage therefore remained valid without registration, and the plaintiff was entitled to a mortgage decree.

---

---

Issues: Whether the letters connected with the deposit of title deeds formed an integral bargain creating the mortgage and were therefore compulsorily registrable, or whether they were merely evidentiary of a completed deposit of title deeds creating an equitable mortgage without registration.

Analysis: A mortgage by deposit of title deeds under Section 58(f) of the Transfer of Property Act is created when title deeds are delivered with intent to create security, and no registered instrument is needed under Section 59. However, if the parties reduce the bargain to writing so that the document itself constitutes the contract regarding security, the writing becomes the operative instrument and attracts Section 17 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908. On the facts, the material letter did not mention the principal advance, the rate of interest, or the details of the title deeds, and the associated correspondence did not show a final and complete written bargain. The documents were treated as records of a transaction of deposit rather than as the instrument creating the charge. The alternative contention that the other letters were the operative bargain was also rejected for similar reasons.

Conclusion: The letters did not require registration and did not displace the equitable mortgage created by deposit of title deeds. The plaintiff was entitled to a mortgage decree.

Ratio Decidendi: Where title deeds are deposited with intent to create security, a memorandum is registrable only if, on its true construction, the parties intended the writing itself to embody the bargain creating the mortgage; if the writing is merely evidentiary of a completed deposit, registration is not required.

---