A power of attorney is used in West Bengal whenever the owner of a property cannot be present to sign or to appear: a seller living abroad, an elderly parent, or a person in hospital. The attorney is appointed by a written instrument, the instrument is stamped and, for a property transaction, registered, and the attorney then signs or presents the deed before the sub-registrar on the owner's behalf. What matters most is that the power is specific enough to identify the property and the transaction, so that no office can later question it.
When you need a power of attorney for property
The usual situations are these: the seller is overseas and the buyer will not wait; the owner is unwell; a co-owner is unavailable and the others want to complete a sale, a gift or a partition; or a family member must sign the deed and appear at the sub-registry office in the owner's place. In each case the attorney acts in the name of the principal, and the deed must show, on its face, that it is signed by the attorney under the authority of a registered power.
- The owner settles the wording of the power of attorney with an advocate, naming the property, the intended dealing and the terms.
- The instrument is stamped in West Bengal and signed by the owner before a notary or, if abroad, authenticated.
- The power of attorney is registered at the sub-registry office for the property through an appointment on e-Nathikaran.
- The attorney and the other party agree the deed and have it stamped, reciting the registered power of attorney.
- The parties attend the sub-registry office on the appointed day, present the documents and complete registration of the deed.
- If the transaction changes ownership, the land record is brought up to date by mutation on Banglarbhumi.
General or special: fix the scope first
A general power of attorney is broad; a special one is confined to a stated act. For a property transaction the special form is almost always safer, because it names the property, the intended dealing (sale, gift, mortgage or lease) and, where there is a sale, the price below which the attorney may not part with the property. A general power of attorney that lets the attorney deal with all the principal's property is easy to abuse, and it is looked at closely both by courts and by the buyer's advocate.
A power that will support a registration should identify the principal and the attorney by name and address, and by identity particulars where the office asks for them; describe the property by its exact description, survey or holding number and boundaries; state the dealing the attorney may carry out; fix any limit, such as a minimum price; and be signed and attested as the law requires. A power to deal with all my property is the kind of instrument that invites objection, because it does not tell the office what is actually authorised.
Stamping and registration
The instrument must be properly stamped in West Bengal before it is presented, and where it concerns immovable property it should be registered. Registration is done at the sub-registry office with jurisdiction over the property, through an appointment on e-Nathikaran, with the stamp duty paid electronically beforehand. Do not sign the instrument and then look for the right stamp: the value depends on what the document does, and it must be settled at the drafting stage, not at the counter.
- A property description that does not match the title deed or the municipal record.
- A power of attorney that names no property, or names the wrong one.
- A stamp paid on a wrong basis, so the document must go for adjudication.
- An instrument executed abroad without authentication under the Registration Act 1908.
- A deed that fails to recite the power of attorney and its registration particulars, so the authority of the signing attorney is not on the face of the deed.
What the attorney must carry
- The original registered power of attorney, or a certified copy where the original is not available.
- The e-stamp certificate and the receipt for the registration fee.
- Identity and address proof of both the principal and the attorney.
- The title deed and the prior documents of the property, so that the recitals can be checked.
- The proposed deed (sale deed, gift deed or lease), already stamped, with the power of attorney recited in it.
- Two witnesses for the deed, and the photographs and thumb impression that the office requires.
Requirements differ from office to office, so it is worth confirming the list with the sub-registry office before the appointment, and again with the buyer's advocate, who will have a list of his own.
The appointment and presentation
The sequence is straightforward once the papers are ready. A slot is booked on e-Nathikaran. The attorney, and the buyer or recipient, attend with the original power of attorney. The sub-registrar reads over and explains the deed, the parties give their thumb impression and are photographed, any balance fee is paid, and the deed is endorsed as registered. The power of attorney is produced at the same time, and its registration number and date are written into the recitals of the deed. If anything is found to be missing on the day, the deed is held over and a fresh appointment has to be taken, which is exactly why the papers are checked before the appointment rather than at the counter.
When the attorney signs the sale deed
Where a deed is executed by an attorney, the deed must recite the power of attorney, its date and its registration particulars, and state that the attorney signs as such. The buyer's advocate will check that the power authorises the sale of that particular property, that the consideration will be received by the attorney on the principal's behalf, and that the instrument has not been revoked. A defect in any of these is one of the most common reasons a sale deed is objected to at the counter, and it is cheaper to fix before the appointment than after.
Safeguards for a buyer dealing with an attorney
- Insist on seeing the original registered power of attorney, and verify its registration particulars.
- Confirm that the power names the property and permits the very transaction you are completing.
- Pay the price by a bank instrument that identifies the principal and the property, rather than in a large cash payment.
- Record the attorney's authority in the deed itself, so the recital stands as notice to anyone who later reads it.
- Check, before completion, that the principal is alive and that the power has not been revoked.
A buyer who completes on a bare general power of attorney, with no consideration actually moving, may find the transfer challenged later: the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to treat a sale agreement backed only by a general power of attorney and a will as a valid conveyance of title.
The risk in such a transaction is concentrated in the scope of the power and in the movement of the money. A power that is too broad lets an attorney do more than the owner intended; a payment that does not run from the buyer to the principal, or that is made in cash, makes it easier for someone later to say the sale was never real. Keeping the power specific and routing the consideration through a bank instrument to the principal is what keeps the transaction sound.
Revocation and after
When the transaction is complete, or if the principal changes his mind, the power should be revoked in writing and the revocation registered, since the original instrument is on the public record. The attorney should return the original, and the banks and offices holding copies should be told. For the earlier steps, see whether a power of attorney needs registration and the cost of registering one; for a related transaction, see the gift deed format and stamp duty in West Bengal.
Remember, finally, that registration of the deed does not by itself change the name in the land record. If the transaction transfers ownership, an application for mutation must be made to the Block Land and Land Reforms Officer through Banglarbhumi, or to the relevant municipal authority where that applies, and the registered deed is the document on which the application rests. Until mutation is done, the record still stands in the old owner's name, which matters for property tax, for future sales and for any loan raised against the property.