In its response to the MoF, MoLR has pinpointed that clause 14 of Registration section of Civil Code mainly stands on its way, as it provides freedom to buyers and sellers not to disclose how the deal was paid even to the concerned official at Land Tax Offices (LTOs).
Because of this law, LTOs have always recognized the amount the two parties mention on the registration document as the deal amount and have been levying taxes and other fees on it.
“This law has left no room for the government to force the parties to disclose how the payment for the deal was made, leave apart the enforcement of check payment,” an official stated. "Hence, we have suggested for the amendment of this law, if MoF is to implement it without court ruling against it.”
Apart from this legal hurdle, MoLR has also raised issues like poor banking access for the people outside the Valley, inability of the LTOs to verify authenticity of checks and other practical hassles for MoF to consider while deciding on its enforcement.
Among the major practical problems, MoLR has mainly drawn attention of MoF to cases like ownership transfers against past loans and system of sealing the deal through commitment fee.
“Every month we face numerous cases wherein people transfer land ownership because they failed to settle loans taken in the past. Such practical issues have to be considered. Otherwise, blank enforcement of the provision will create fuss later,” said the source.
MoLR has also raised questions over the fate of the deal in case the check bounced. To this, MoF had earlier suggested MoLR to scrap deals such case arose. However, MoLR has said that land ownership certificate once awarded becomes a legally valid document and LTOs cannot reverse it. “It can be done only by the court,” it said.
And considering the painfully slow justice delivery system, the ministry has mooted an idea of establishing a special bench at the court to deal with realty cases to facilitate swift deal reversals and provide justice to the people in case MoF preferred to go for scrapping the deals.
MoLR has also recommended the MoF to devise ways through which the commitment fees, which realty owners take for sealing the deal, could be monitored.
“As such deals can be signed anywhere, the parties in contract can easily manipulate the commitment amount to escape transactions through check. This open space of leakage must be plugged,” MoLR has said.
milan@myrepublica.com
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