All non-testamentary documents duly registered under this Act, and relating to any property, whether movable or immovable, shall take effect against any oral agreement or declaration relating to such property, unless where the agreement or declaration has been accompanied or followed by delivery of possession and the same constitutes a valid transfer under any law for the time being in force:
Provided that a mortgage by deposit of title-deeds as defined in section 58 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 (4 of 1882), shall take effect against any mortgage-deed subsequently executed and registered which relates to the same property.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 48
Section 48 of the Registration Act, 1908 establishes the statutory priority of registered documents relating to property over prior or competing oral agreements.
Section 48 establishes the priority of registered instruments over competing oral agreements, protecting purchasers against unrecorded claims.
The section enforces the primacy of written, registered public titles over secret oral arrangements. A subsequent purchaser with a registered deed defeats any alleged prior oral agreement to sell, unless the prior oral agreement was perfected by lawful physical delivery of possession.
In property litigations, parties frequently set up fraudulent prior oral agreements to defeat registered conveyances. Under Section 48, the registered deed holder enjoys statutory supremacy unless the oral claimant conclusively proves lawful, actual antecedent physical possession.