Calcutta HC upholds scheme to introduce E-registration of Deeds in West Bengal, provided it stays optional

Recently, the Calcutta High Court partly allowed two pleas filed challenging the introduction of e-registration of deeds in West Bengal.However, while Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya upheld the e-registration scheme itself, a subsequent notification which made e-registration mandatory for deeds above Rs 50 lakhs was struck down..Factual BackgroundThe petitioners had challenged an order of the Inspector General of Registration and Commissioner of Stamp Revenue of the State dated December 9, 2019. This order informed that the Government of West Bengal was going to introduce a concept of e‐Deed as an optional value‐added service. By this scheme, deeds could be prepared, submitted and signed electronically by parties..The petitioners further challenged a subsequent notice issued by the A.D.S.R., which stated that sale deeds valued at Rs.50 lakh or more would compulsorily be registrable online in the e‐deed format..Submissions.Submissions by the PetitionersThe petitioner argued that the Notification dated December 9, 2019 was in violation of Section 69(2) of the Registration Act, as the approval of the State Government was not obtained before the amendment of the registration rules..The petitioners also contended that the implementation of the these schemes would affect the livelihood of copywriters such as themselves. It was submitted that with the introduction of the e-deed schemes, the need for preparing true copies by the copywriters would be rendered redundant. The Court recorded the grievance of the petitioners that,“The impugned notification, in a single stroke, takes away all such investment of time and resources and renders meaningless the relinquishment of other job options for the copy writers and is violative of the right to practice any profession, also enshrined in Article 19 of the Constitution..Another contention raised was the notice making it mandatory for documents valued at Rs.50 lakh or more to be registered online was patently arbitrary and violative of the notification dated December 9, 2019. The latter mentions that e‐filing was intended to be an optional, and not a mandatory system, the petitioners pointed out..Arguments of the RespondentsThe Advocate General submitted that the position of law with respect to the need for true copies of deeds for registration, under Section 19A of the Registration Act, as well as Rule 5(5) of the True Copy Rules and the Copy Writers Rules remains the same despite the introduction of the challenged notifications. Section 19A of the Registration Act lays down that a document would not be accepted for registration unless it is accompanied by a true copy..The West Bengal Registration (Filing of True Copies) Rules, 1979, has not been repealed, it was emphasised. In other words, the need for true copies has not been dispensed with.The Respondents further countered that an approval had actually obtained from the State Government for the introduction of the notifications‐in‐dispute, as a measure of abundant caution although it was not necessary..What the High Court held.Legal position of production of True Copies remains unchangedThe High Court eventually found that, as submitted by the state, the legal position as regards the need for true copies remains unchanged even after the introduction of the e-deed scheme. The Court noted that the True Copies Rules has not yet been repealed and as such, true copies are still being accepted in the concerned registration offices..True copies need not be prepared by copywritersThe Court proceeded to point out that that there is no legal provision mandating that copywriters must have role in when it came to deed registration and preparation of true copies. Nowhere, is it provided that the true copy has to be prepared by a copy writer, the Court observed..Even the Copy Writers Rules does not provide anywhere that the assistance of copy writer has to be mandatorily taken for the purpose of preparing or filing such a true copy. The Registration Act itself, which is the governing statute in the field, also does not stipulate any mandate that the true copy envisaged therein has to be prepared by a copy writer.Calcutta High Court.The Court further noted, from an overview of the law, that "the role of the copy writers in the process of registration is a supplementary one, which is marginal in nature and not mandatory.".Advancements in technology and law cannot be halted on sympathetic considerationsWhile this the case, the Court pointed out that what has affected the copy writers "is the advancements of technology and not the amendment of law." Further it noted that with the advancement of technology such changes are likely to occur, but the law cannot be halted on that ground. .As recorded in the judgment,"With utmost sympathy for the copy writers, due to their imminent financial crisis and, in some cases, loss of livelihood, due to it being possible that the draftsmen of the electronic copies of the documents to be registered would take out computer printouts by the same mechanical process as the original document without the help of copy writers, the advancement of technology and its reflection in the legislations cannot be halted on that ground alone.". With these observations, the Court held that the Notification dated December 9, 2019, is intra vires and cannot be held to be otherwise..The Court also declined to entertain a challenge to revise and enhance the rate of remuneration of the copy writers, stating that,“… if on every technological advancement and the corresponding changes to the relevant statutes, compensation had to be granted to the marginal section of the society affected collaterally by such advancement, by way of increasing their remunerations, the process would be self‐defeating and counter‐productive…”.Mandatory e-registration of deeds above Rs 50 lakhs struck downHowever, the Court struck down the notification that had made e-registration mandatory for deeds above Rs 50 lakhs, since it conflicted with an earlier intimation that e-registration is being introduced as an optional alternative. As stated in the judgment,."The moment a decision is taken that deeds of a certain valuation would be mandatorily registrable online only, the ‘optional’ aspect of the amendment introduced by the notification is defeated, even if only in respect of deeds of such valuation."Calcutta High Court.Moreover, the Court added, "the A.D.S.R.s concerned had no authority under the law to make such alteration to the 1962 Rules itself (to make e-registration compulsory) and as such, the said decision of the A.D.S.R.s is ex facie without jurisdiction.".[Read the Judgment here]