My son gave me a General Power of Attorney (GPOA) before he left for a job in USA. That was a little over a decade ago. Later on my daughter-in-law too gave me a GPOA. I could register a property in my son's name in Pune on the basis of GPOA without any hassles. However I had yet to have an encounter with the redoubtable LDA (Lucknow Development Authority.)
My son and daughter-in-law booked a flat with LDA in 2010, the year of my retirement. The idea was that it may be a better option for my wife and me to live in a flat rather than an independent house. We waited four long years and paid for serious cost escalations before the letter of allotment finally came through.
Undeterred by the scary stories I had heard, I marched into LDA's office armed with the letter of allotment and the two GPOAs . I approached the concerned clerk and asked for the formats of the affidavit and declaration etc. that were to be furnished by the allottee. I was told that these can be had from the notary who sits outside the building. I got the affidavit etcetera made and appeared before the clerk. He expressed doubts about how could the registration be done on the basis of GPOAs. Several observation were made about the age of the documents, the two GPOAs being registered at different places, lack of the phrase "registration of property" in the the documents and so on.
I called on the concerned officer who sought the opinion of a retired supervisor on whom he relies. This person came through as a very practical man and opined straight away that it would be perfectly in order for me to sign the deed conveying the property to my son and daughter-in-law.
I made inquiries with the clerk a week later. I was told that notwithstanding the retired person's advice, the matter had been referred to CLA (Chief Legal Adviser) who in his wisdom had opined that the GPOAs were too old and hence it may not be proper to register the property on the basis of these! A remarkable observation indeed considering the fact that GPOAs never get time barred. As regards any revocation, the POA holder has to sign an affidavit affirming that the POA is still valid and I had done that.
I called upon the CLA who showed me an order by the Supreme Court questioning sale of a property through a POA. When it was pointed out that this was a case of purchase through POA, he retorted, "Oh, so you would like to have an argument!" He suggested that I call the applicants to Lucknow for executing the documents! He also wondered if delays might affect the validity of the stamps that had already been purchased. When told that the parties could not appear in person and that was the reason for giving GPOAs, with much reluctance he suggested that I get a special power of attorney from them and added that getting it from overseas may be a rather difficult task and he could not assure me beforehand that it would serve the purpose.
You must have noted that while he quoted a certain SC order orally, he did not quote it in his written remarks. In the remarks he merely mentioned that the instruments were old.
I wondered if I should fight back on the ground that a POA doesn't get time barred. But later thought that probably it would be faster and less expensive to get a special POA from my son and daughter-in-law.
What happened afterwards will appear in a subsequent post.
My son and daughter-in-law booked a flat with LDA in 2010, the year of my retirement. The idea was that it may be a better option for my wife and me to live in a flat rather than an independent house. We waited four long years and paid for serious cost escalations before the letter of allotment finally came through.
Undeterred by the scary stories I had heard, I marched into LDA's office armed with the letter of allotment and the two GPOAs . I approached the concerned clerk and asked for the formats of the affidavit and declaration etc. that were to be furnished by the allottee. I was told that these can be had from the notary who sits outside the building. I got the affidavit etcetera made and appeared before the clerk. He expressed doubts about how could the registration be done on the basis of GPOAs. Several observation were made about the age of the documents, the two GPOAs being registered at different places, lack of the phrase "registration of property" in the the documents and so on.
I called on the concerned officer who sought the opinion of a retired supervisor on whom he relies. This person came through as a very practical man and opined straight away that it would be perfectly in order for me to sign the deed conveying the property to my son and daughter-in-law.
I made inquiries with the clerk a week later. I was told that notwithstanding the retired person's advice, the matter had been referred to CLA (Chief Legal Adviser) who in his wisdom had opined that the GPOAs were too old and hence it may not be proper to register the property on the basis of these! A remarkable observation indeed considering the fact that GPOAs never get time barred. As regards any revocation, the POA holder has to sign an affidavit affirming that the POA is still valid and I had done that.
I called upon the CLA who showed me an order by the Supreme Court questioning sale of a property through a POA. When it was pointed out that this was a case of purchase through POA, he retorted, "Oh, so you would like to have an argument!" He suggested that I call the applicants to Lucknow for executing the documents! He also wondered if delays might affect the validity of the stamps that had already been purchased. When told that the parties could not appear in person and that was the reason for giving GPOAs, with much reluctance he suggested that I get a special power of attorney from them and added that getting it from overseas may be a rather difficult task and he could not assure me beforehand that it would serve the purpose.
You must have noted that while he quoted a certain SC order orally, he did not quote it in his written remarks. In the remarks he merely mentioned that the instruments were old.
I wondered if I should fight back on the ground that a POA doesn't get time barred. But later thought that probably it would be faster and less expensive to get a special POA from my son and daughter-in-law.
What happened afterwards will appear in a subsequent post.
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