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Section 81: Penalty for registering officer incorrectly endorsing, copying, translating or registering documents with intent to injure

Registration Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1908
Section 80 All 93 Sections of Registration Act Section 82

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 81

Section 81 prescribes severe criminal penalties of imprisonment up to seven years or fine against registering officers who intentionally endorse, copy, translate, or register documents unlawfully with intent to cause injury.

  • Registering Officer Criminal Liability: Every registering officer appointed under the Act, and every person employed in his office for the purposes of the Act.
  • Prohibited Conduct: Who, being charged with the endorsing, copying, translating, or registering of any document, commits any of those acts in a manner which he knows or believes to be incorrect, intending thereby to cause, or knowing it to be likely that he may thereby cause, injury to any person.
  • Seven-Year Imprisonment: Punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 7 years, or with fine, or with both.
  • Deterrence Against Registry Collusion: Criminalizes corruption, collusion with land mafias, and intentional fraudulent alterations in official register books.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Asset Reconstruction Co. (India) Ltd. v. S.P. Velayutham, (2022) 8 SCC 210: The Supreme Court held that Section 81 provides criminal accountability against corrupt registration officers who knowingly register fraudulent instruments or collude in property theft.
  • Satya Pal Anand v. State of M.P., (2016) 10 SCC 767: The Supreme Court highlighted that while registration officers have limited civil authority, willful misconduct or intentional injury to citizens invites the full criminal rigor of Section 81.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

Where a Sub-Registrar colludes with impersonators to register a forged deed despite written caveats, lodge a formal criminal complaint under Section 81 alongside Section 420/468 IPC.

Section 80 All 93 Sections of Registration Act Section 82