Buying and Selling Property Through a General Power of Attorney

Question: A person explained his problem: if I buy a property and don't get the sale deed registered, and instead get a general power of attorney made and registered, and if the person who gave me that power of attorney dies, what should I do?

Solution: A general power of attorney only holds as long as the person who granted the power of attorney is alive. If either party, the one who granted the authority or the one to whom the authority was granted, dies, the general power of attorney becomes completely void, it comes to a complete end. But I am addressing those brothers and sisters who, after buying a property, take a general power of attorney in exchange for it. Now they hold possession of the property, they've made full payment, but they haven't gotten it registered, haven't gotten the transfer of ownership (intiqal) done, either because they don't have the money, or from a business point of view, thinking, why should I spend the money, I'll just take a general power of attorney and sell it on later to save this expense of mine.

Well, countless cases are pending in the courts over this, I myself have handled two or three cases of exactly this nature. I'm fortunate to have worked in every field, and I'm grateful to my teacher, my teacher trusted me a great deal and had me handle every kind of matter without hesitation.

When you buy a property and don't get the transfer done in your name, and instead take a general power of attorney, get this clause written into that general power of attorney, the law allows it, that you must have this written into the general power of attorney, not just that this is my property, that I own it and I'm giving these powers to this person to sell it and, after selling, give me the money, instead amend it to say this: this is my property, and I have already received the full consideration for it, from the person to whom I am granting this authority, I have already received the full sale price from him, I am appointing him as my general attorney, and he may sell it to whomever he wishes and take the sale proceeds for himself, keep them, I have no objection. Writing this line gives you protection. If the person who granted you the authority dies, that same general power of attorney will serve as your agreement of sale, it will be your protection. With this one sentence, if the person who granted the authority passes away, all his legal heirs are bound, because of this one line, to transfer that property into your name, or into the name of whoever you designate. If they refuse, you can file a civil suit, and that civil suit won't be one of those where the grandfather files and the great-grandson wins.

You already have possession, you point to that possession, possession is already yours, after that it's a matter of months, not years. You won't have to come to court a hundred times, there will be an ex-parte decree against the other side, a decree will be granted, and it will be transferred into your name.

So keep this in mind, and I would also request the legal community: this is really the root of the problem, one of the biggest reasons our courts are overloaded with unwanted litigation is that the ordinary litigant simply doesn't want to take legal advice beforehand. The ordinary litigant says, well, you're buying a property worth ten crore rupees, if you invest even one lakh rupees of that into a good legal advisor, give him one lakh rupees to prepare all these documents properly for you... I'm using the word good, an honest lawyer, you invest in him, he completes your documentation properly, and you get peace of mind for the rest of your life. But instead we say, we'll give two thousand rupees to a deed-writer (waseeqa-navees) and get all this done, and then we bear the consequences.

Look at it this way: a document is proved in court only through witnesses, the law requires two witnesses. Now compare the standing of a deed-writer when he comes into the witness box to that of a lawyer coming into the witness box to prove that a document was properly executed, there's a world of difference between the two. A deed-writer will try to blackmail you at that point, and they do. A lawyer will not blackmail you, a lawyer has his own standing, his own reputation, saying, I prepared this document, it was executed in front of me, this is a challenge to my black coat's honour. So please, please look into this: whenever you carry out any transaction, try to take legal advice, it will be very important for you.

I hope I have answered this question: if I have purchased a property through sale and instead of registering it I get a general power of attorney made and registered, and tomorrow the grantor dies, what should I do? Well, this is the best solution, and it's all in that one clause. Let me tell you one more thing about the general power of attorney. If a general power of attorney is assigned to someone who has a blood relation with the grantor, his brother, his son, his nephew, a blood relative, then on the basis of that general power of attorney, he cannot transfer that property to his own blood relative. This is a legal restriction. Such cases have occurred, a brother made his brother a general attorney and the brother transferred it to his own brother, or to his own son, and courts have not given weight to it. I hope I have answered your question.