‘A’ KHATA PROBLEMS OF BANGALORE PROPERTIES

Advocate Selvakumar | property advocates in Bangalore | advocates in Bangalore

Property house owners underneath the bounds of  Bruhat urban center Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) face ton of confusion and hurdles in getting khatas from the BBMP. Khata primarily is a crucial property identification document issued by the native civic body to acknowledge the possession of a property in their limits. Khata contains the main points of property like name of the owner, dimension of the plot or size of the building, location of the property and different details that helps properly house owners to file land tax. aside from this khata is needed for applying for building licence, for trade licence, for loan from any banks or money establishments etc.,

In 2007 seven town municipal councils (CMC) Kengeri city Municipal Council (TMC) and one hundred ten villages, were brought underneath the administration of urban center Mahanagar Palike (BMP). Thus, nearly 2/3rd space was extra to the prevailing 1/3rd space underneath BBMP. solely properties that were approved by the urban planning authorities and a few different properties strictly orthodox to the bye laws of the BBMP are issued ‘A’ Khata. For the remaining  properties within the freshly extra areas the house owners will pay tax to BBMP and obtain the ‘B’ khata kind. in keeping with BBMP there's nothing like ‘B’ khata, however it's solely associate extract of the B register maintained by the civic authorities to create entries of the taxes collected on the properties.

‘A’ Khata is needed to be obtained from the BBMP to acknowledge the possession of a property that makes the house owners eligible to receive civic amenities extended to them. But, most of the properties within the recent CMC areas currently returning underneath  BBMP have several disadvantages in obtaining ‘A’ khata as several irregularities concerning land conversion, building bylaw violations etc., square measure rampant in these properties. to get ‘A’ Khata the land ought to be DC regenerate, house owners ought to have paid up up to now tax and additionally paid betterment charges to the BBMP concerning regenerate lands. All political parties guarantees the general public regarding ‘Akrama – Sakrama’ theme for regularizing unauthorized / building violation constructions. But, nothing is occurring during this regard until date.

The Government should take concrete steps to mitigate the issues of property house owners in urban center town either by implementing the antecedently planned theme of ‘AKRAMA – SAKRAMA’ or different theme, to regularize the property ownerships by assembling only once penalty / fees, facultative the voters to use and acquire ‘A’ Khata for his or her properties. The urban planning  authorities should be a lot of argus-eyed and not permitting nonlegal developments within the starting itself

11 MONTH LEASE DEED MUST BE REGISTERED

Advocate Selvakumar | property advocates in Bangalore | advocates in Bangalore

HC says if unregistered, such deeds cannot be ‘received as evidence of any transaction affecting the property’

The common practice of lease deeds (including rental agreements) between property owners and tenants for 11 months to avoid registering the deed is not the right thing to do. The high court of Karnataka has held that deeds where the term of the lease stated does not exceed one year alaso have to be registered.

In a particular case, the court held that such unregistered deeds cannot be received as evidence of any dispute between the tenant and property owner, unregistered deeds will only serve collateral purpose in courts and not as evidence.

Abdul Rasheed, a tailor and tenant of Srinivas, a retired district judge, approached the HC against a lower court order that refused to accept as evidence four unregistered lease deeds. Justice HG Ramesh probed the question “Whether a lease deed, where the term of lease stated therein does not exceed one year, requires to be registered under the Registration Act, 1908”.

In a significant order that comes as a surprise to common perception of this aspect of law, the courtheld, “In law, the lease deeds of the afore to be registered and therefore, such unregistered lease deeds cannot be received as evidence of any transaction affecting the property.”

Rasheed in his petition claimed that under the Act, if the term of the lease was less than one year, there was no need for registration.

Section 107 of the Act says, “ A lease of immovable property from year to year, or for any term exceeding one year or reserving a yearly rent, can be made only by a registered instrument.” However, the HC order stressed the second paragraph of the section 107 which says, “All other leases of immovable property may be made either by a registered instrument or by oral agreement accompanied by delivery of possession.” Section 49 of the Act says that documents that need to be registered but are not cannot “be received as evidence of any transaction affecting such property.” The court held that the second paragraph of section makes it mandatory for lease deeds less than one year to be registered if they are not just oral. Therefore under section 49, they become inadmissible in court if not registered.

However, the court gave liberty to Rasheed to approach the trial court with the same documents specifically stating that they are for ‘collateral purpose’ only. Therefore unregistered lease agreements can be used only as collaborative evidence in court. The order renders most rental agreements invalid as evidence in court ifa dispute arises between the lessor and lessee.

 “Usually in disputes about rents, the rent receipts are produced as evidence. It is mostly residential properties that are registered for 11 months. Commercial properties usually have a longer lease agreement. The order is an eye-opener. In court, property owners do not produce the lease agreements as they are unregistered. If it is impounded by the court, they  will end up paying 11 times the stamp duty. This order may lead to a fresh struggle between house owners and tenants.”

A COMPARATIVE LOOK AT NRIs, OCIs AND PIOs

Advocate Selvakumar | property advocates in Bangalore | advocates in Bangalore

Indian citizenship and citizenship of a Foreign country cannot be held at the same time as it is not allowed by the Constitution of India.  A new class of Citizenship i.e., Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) was therefore created by amending the Constitution to compromise with dual citizenship.

Dual Citizenship and holding of two nationalities at the same time of two different  countries is categorically prohibited by both Article 9 of the Constitution of India and Section 9 of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.OCI are specifically prohibited political rights and other rights by Section 7B of the Citizenship Act and they have only multiple entry lifelong visa facility to visit India any time for any purpose.

Under the Ministry of Home Affairs Scheme of August 19, 2002, the registration of Person of Indian Origin ( PIO ) Card holders was started and from December 2, 2005 the OCI scheme became operational.  We need to know the difference between an NRI, a PIO and an OCI.

For this purpose, the following description is given:

Non-Residential Indians ( NRIs ):

A person resident in India and a person resident outside India are defined in Section 2 of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 ( FEMA ).  However, this portion does not define the term NRI.  According to a notification, NRI means a person resident outside India who is either a Citizen of India or is a person of Indian Origin.

A person who resides in India for more than 182 days  in the preceding financial year and who comes or stays in India for any purpose is a person ‘resident’ in India according to FEMA.  A person who is not a resident in India is defined as a ‘Non Resident’.  An NRI, therefore, is an Indian Citizen who ordinarily residents outside India and holds Indian passport.

Persons of Indian Origin (PIO):

A foreign citizen who held an Indian Passport at any time; or he/she or either of his/her parents, grandparents or great grandparents was born in and was a permanent resident in India; or he/she is a spouse of a citizen of India or of a person of Indian Origin is what is meant by a Person of Indian Origin.

PIO card holders are permitted to visit India  without visa for 15 years and have to register with Foreigners Registration Officer ( FRO ) in India if the stay is more than 180 days continuously.  PIOs have equality with NRIs where certain facilities are concerned but do not have any political rights and may apply for Indian Citizenship after residing in India for a minimum of seven years.

Overseas Citizen of India ( OCI ):  

A foreign national is eligible for registration as OCI if he was eligible to become a Citizen of India on January 26, 1950, or was a citizen of India on or at any time after the said date or belonged to a territory that became part of India after August 15, 1947 and his / her children and grand children are also eligible for registration as OCIs.  They will enjoy a multiple entry, multi purpose life long visa to visit India, do not have to registerhttp://www.advocateselvakumar.com/qna.php with Foreigners Registration Officer (FRO)/Police authorities however long they may stay in India and have the right to benefits notified under Section 7B of the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955.  If an OCI is registered for five years and resides in India for one year he can be granted Indian Citizenship but will have no political rights.

Bank accounts in India can be opened out of funds remitted from abroad, foreign exchange brought in from abroad or out of funds legitimately due to them in India by NRIs / PIOs.  They can open these accounts with Banks that are authorized by the Reserve Bank of India.