Registration completed in substance survives ministerial omission; tax correspondence must strictly satisfy statutory bar requirements before blocking registration.

Substantive compliance with the Registration Act was treated as sufficient where the formal acts necessary for registration had been completed, and the absence of the final endorsement of the word "registered" was regarded as a ministerial omission that did not invalidate the process. A purported statutory bar against completion of registration had to strictly satisfy the requirements of section 2(ii) of the Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act, 1949; general correspondence from income-tax authorities was not enough. The registering officer was bound to complete the remaining ministerial step and return the document, and mandamus was considered an appropriate remedy to compel that statutory duty.

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Issues: (i) Whether a document is to be treated as duly registered when the formal acts under the Registration Act have been completed except the endorsement of the word "registered" and the copying formalities under the later sections. (ii) Whether the correspondence sent by the income-tax authorities constituted a valid statutory declaration under section 2(ii) of the Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act, 1949, so as to prohibit completion of registration. (iii) Whether a writ of mandamus could issue directing the registering officer to complete registration and return the document.

Issue (i): Whether a document is to be treated as duly registered when the formal acts under the Registration Act have been completed except the endorsement of the word "registered" and the copying formalities under the later sections.

Analysis: The registration scheme was treated as consisting of the statutory acts required up to the point where the document is copied into the register and the certificate of registration is endorsed. The omission to endorse the word "registered" was viewed as a ministerial omission and not as an act destroying the registration already substantially completed. The Court preferred the view that non-compliance with the final ministerial steps did not invalidate the completed registration when the substantive requirements had been satisfied.

Conclusion: The document was not rendered unregistered merely because the final endorsement had not been made; the omission was only procedural and did not defeat completion of registration.

Issue (ii): Whether the correspondence sent by the income-tax authorities constituted a valid statutory declaration under section 2(ii) of the Payment of Taxes (Transfer of Property) Act, 1949, so as to prohibit completion of registration.

Analysis: A statutory declaration affecting property rights was required to strictly satisfy the requirements of the Act and had to clearly disclose the legal authority and the prohibition intended to be enforced. The letters relied on by the revenue were treated as general warnings and not as declarations made in the manner required by the statute. The Court also noted that the property stood in the mortgagor's name and that the registering officer was not the proper forum to decide the alleged benami character of the property.

Conclusion: The correspondence did not amount to a valid declaration under section 2(ii), and there was no statutory bar to completion of registration on the relevant date.

Issue (iii): Whether a writ of mandamus could issue directing the registering officer to complete registration and return the document.

Analysis: Once the registering officer had performed the substantive acts required by the Registration Act, he remained under a statutory duty to complete the remaining ministerial step and return the document. Mandamus was appropriate to compel performance of a public duty imposed by statute, and the existence of disputed income-tax claims did not justify withholding completion of registration in these proceedings.

Conclusion: Mandamus could issue to compel the registering officer to complete the registration process and return the document.

Final Conclusion: The petitions succeeded, as the Court held that registration had been substantially completed, no valid statutory declaration barred completion, and the registering officer had to perform the remaining statutory duty.

Ratio Decidendi: Where the substantive statutory requirements for registration have been fulfilled, a remaining ministerial omission by the registering officer does not invalidate the registration, and a purported statutory bar must strictly comply with the governing provision before it can prevent completion of registration.

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