The Revenue Department proposal to make it mandatory for the seller of the property to give an undertaking to the buyer that there is no legal dispute involving the property being sold and that he/she is the genuine owner of the said property has been put on hold.
Top sources told The Pioneer that the proposal was put on hold without citing any reasons. The plan was mooted at the direction of Chief Secretary DM Spolia to enforce certain checks and balances in property transaction to curb fraudulent property deals and protect the real estate buyers.
This protects the buyer as he can always take legal action against the seller if there is any dispute involving the property later as the seller had given an undertaking on the property title being undisputed. In case the buyer does not have such an undertaking from the seller then the registry of the property will not be completed. Hence it is also incumbent upon the buyer to conduct 'due diligence' before buying a property. Spolia, however, refused to comment on this issue.
The Planning Department has commented that there is no need to bring a Cabinet proposal and the land vested in 'gaon sabha' is public land and the Government owes a duty to protect such public land from encroachment and illegal transfers.
Officials of Revenue Department say that the plan will help reduce corruption and the role of touts and intermediaries in property transactions. "This is the only way to protect the public land and the seller should ensure that the property being sold is free from any legal encumbrances and that no provisions of the Delhi land Reforms Act 1954 are being violated by the said transfer. The status report on property is required during mutation from the Tehsildar," said officials.
"This would not only ensure time-bound registry but also negate the role of middlemen in property transactions and reduce corruption. This would give relief to the people going from one office to another for obtaining status reports," said officials."In this manner the responsibility is on the seller of making a full disclosure of facts to the effect that their property does not attract the provisions of Sections 33, 74 (4), 81 and other relevant provisions of the DlR Act and is free from any other legal encumbrances in any court of law. The Revenue Department's role in this is to facilitate the transaction by making relevant information available freely and easily to the citizen," the revenue department proposal said.