Ramkrishna Upadhyay

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 11

Thousands of property owners have been left in the lurch as the Chandigarh Housing Board has stopped the transfer of property on the basis of the general power of attorney (GPA) and the special power of attorney (SPA).The CHB action comes after the UT Finance Department issued directions to all departments that no transfer of title or mutation shall be carried out merely on the basis of the GPA and the SPA. The wills executed along with such GPA/SPA shall also not be considered for effecting the mutation.Interestingly, the Finance Department has issued the order in pursuance of the same judgment of the Supreme Court dated October 11, 2011, passed in the case of Suraj Lamp and Industries Pvt Ltd vs the State of Haryana under which the CHB had been allowing the transfer since 2015.The two different interpretations of the Supreme Court order has left the owners of CHB flats in a fix. The Finance Department, quoting the order, issued directions on December 19, 2017, to the Estate Office, the MC and the CHB that the UT GPA/SPA cannot be treated as an instrument of transfer of title as per the Transfer of Property Act. According to the directions, “No transfer of title or mutation will be carried out merely on the basis of GPA/ SPA. However, these instruments — GPA, SPA and will — can be used for getting the conveyance of the title deed registered.”Sources said acting on the directions, the CHB had stopped all transfers with immediate effect. More than 1,000 cases pending under the Tatkal scheme had also been put on hold. The CHB, in its policy approved in 2015, allowed transfers of dwelling units based on GPA transactions, where GPA/SPA and agreement to sell/will were executed on or before October 11, 2011. While Chairman of the CHB Maninder Singh could not be contacted, Finance Secretary Ajoy Kumar Sinha said the directions had been issued as per the order of the Supreme Court.JD Gupta, property consultant, said the Finance Department should allow the transfer of property on the basis of GPA prepared before October 2011 as per the order of the Supreme Court. He said the decision would result in a revenue loss to the government and would also increase litigation.