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Section 7: Persons competent to transfer

Transfer of Property Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1882
Section 6 All 137 Sections of Transfer of Property Act Section 8

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 7

Competency to execute a valid property transfer hinges upon contractual capacity coupled with lawful ownership or delegated legal authority to dispose of the estate.

  • Statutory Powers & Jurisdiction: A dual statutory standard governs conveyancing competence: the transferor must satisfy the requirements of contractual capacity under Section 11 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 (majority, sanity, and absence of statutory disqualification) and must possess transferable title to the property, or legitimate authority to dispose of property not their own (such as a registered power of attorney holder, executor, court-appointed guardian, or official liquidator).
  • Core Legal Standard: A conveyance executed by a minor or person of unsound mind is void ab initio (void non-est) and cannot be ratified upon attaining majority, nor can it create an estoppel against the minor under civil jurisprudence.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Mohammed Raza v. Abbas Bandi Bibi (AIR 1932 PC 158): The Privy Council held that competency under Section 7 requires both personal contractual capacity and legal power over the property; a transferor cannot convey a greater estate than they lawfully hold.
  • Mathai Mathai v. Joseph Mary (2015) 5 SCC 622: The Supreme Court affirmed that a minor is wholly incompetent to transfer property under Section 7, rendering any sale deed, mortgage, or settlement executed by a minor non-est in the eye of the law.
Legal Commentary:

Under Section 7, while a minor or person of unsound mind cannot transfer property as a transferor, they can legally be a transferee (buyer, donee, or mortgagee) under property law, provided no onerous reciprocal personal covenants are imposed on them.

Section 6 All 137 Sections of Transfer of Property Act Section 8