The Sale deed is also known as conveyance deed. It is the most important document concerning the transfer of property in favour of the purchaser. This is the document by which the vendor transfers his right, interest and title over the property to the purchaser, who, in turn, acquires an absolute ownership of the property. The purchaser has to preserve the sale deed very safely since this is the primary document of his title over the property. Initially, the vendor and the purchaser enter into an agreement of sale and only upon compliance of various terms and conditions detailed therein, the parties proceed to execute a sale deed.

General
For transfer of property by way of sale or otherwise, the vendor should have valid title over the property. Therefore, scrutiny of documents of title is a pre-requisite for purchase of property. If the vendor has charged the property with some encumbrance, he is duty bound to get such encumbrance cleared at his cost. Further, the vendor has to make all the statutory payments such as property tax, water and power consumption charges and all other levies or payments due on the property, before execution of the sale deed. Similarly, the vendor has to get statutory clearance or permission wherever necessary prior to the execution of the sale deed. Latest encumbrance certificate of the property, subsequent to the date of the agreement of sale covering the period up to the proximate date of sale deed, should also be obtained and if such certificate shows nil encumbrance then it can be presumed that there are no charges on the property.

It is necessary to make all the persons having interest in the property, parties to the sale deed. In case of purchase of properties from a limited company, partnership firm, Hindu undivided family, Trust, power of attorney holder and the property belonging to a minor, extra care is to be taken.

Draft sale deed 
A draft sale deed shall contain the following information :  (a)complete details of the parties, (b) amount of advance paid, (c) mode of payment of balance of sale consideration,(d) receipt of the balance of sale consideration by the seller, (e) handing over of the original documents of the property to the purchaser, (f) handing over the possession of the property, (g) handing over the authorisation letter to get transfer of power and water meters done in the name of the purchaser, (h)singing of the application for transfer of Khatha in favour of the purchaser, (i) indemnifying the purchaser in case of defect in the title, and (j) easementary rights, if any.

 Parties have to quote their Income Tax Permanent Account Number in case the transactions are done in cash for the property which values more than Rs 5,00,000. Parties, who have not yet been allotted Permanent Account Number will have to file Form No 60 or Form No 61.

  Such a draft deed captioned as ‘draft sale deed’ shall be prepared by the purchaser’s advocate and forwarded to the vendor for his approval. The vendor and his advocate will verify the draft sale deed and if found acceptable, approve it or may suggest suitable deletions, additions or amendments to the draft sale deed. The purpose is to bring forth the correct intention of the parties to the sale transaction. Upon approval of the draft sale deed, the same is prepared on a good quality paper preferably on a document paper. In Karnataka it is prepared either on paper like bond paper or green paper or on document paper, and the stamp duty is payable by way of demand draft or pay order or cash. The exact amount of stamp duty is to be ascertained from the Sub-Registrar office. Purchaser is liable to pay the stamp duty as per value stated in the documents or as per the value fixed by the Sub-Registrar office, whichever is higher.

Execution
After the sale deed is prepared, all the parties to the deed shall execute it by affixing their full signature. Each page should be signed by all the sellers.

Any overwriting, cancellations, erasures and additions, have to be authenticated by full signature of the parties. Execution of the sale deed requires to be witnessed by two witnesses.

The witnesses shall give theirfull particulars and addresses.

Registration
Sale deed of immovable property of value more than Rs 100 needs compulsory registration. The duly executed sale deed should be presented at the jurisdictional Sub–Registrar office. All the parties, including the confirmation witnesses, shall be present at the time of registration and admit the execution. Purchaser also has to be presented for the execution of the documents at the Sub–Registrar’s office. In case the purchaser is not in position to be present before the Sub–Registrar, he can give Power of Attorney to any person of his choice to sign and present the documents on his behalf. In case the seller signs the sale deed, it is compulsory that only the registered Power of Attorney holder  can represent him to present the documents before the Sub–Registrar. In Karnataka, the Sub–Registrar’s office, take the photographs of purchaser, vendors, and also their thumb impressions and print the same on the sale deed.

Time limit
There is a time limit for presenting the documents for registration. The time limit is four months from the date of execution. Thereafter a grace period of another four months is allowed on payment of penalty. The maximum penalty is ten times of registration charges. At times, the registering authorities may dispute the stamp duty paid. In such cases, the purchaser has an option of paying the additional stamp duty by way of cash or pay order or alternatively, he may contest the decision of the sub-registrar in which case the Sub–Registrar will keep registration pending and refer the matter to the Registrar for under-valuation for examination and opinion.

Document custody
The vendor has to deliver all the original documents pertaining to the property to the purchaser. If the property is divided and sold in different pieces to different parties, the seller has to give original copies to the purchaser who has purchased a larger chunk of the property and certified copy or xerox copy of the documents to other purchasers. He   has to make a declaration to this effect in the sale deed.

Since the sale deed is a very important document whereunder the purchaser would get right, title and interest over the property purchased by him, every care is to be taken while preparing the sale deed.

The author is an advocate who specializes in property matters.  He can be reached on e-mail : editor@realestatereporter.net  ph: 25526644/45.