Why to hire a property lawyer in India before buying a property? Part 2
In continuation to the searches for title, records of rights and encumbrances/charges, as covered in the earlier part (Why to hire a property lawyer in India before buying a property? Part 1), further searches which must be carried out are given below:-
Search for litigation:-
It must be ensured that the desired property is not subject to any litigation. This again can be and must be verified by a search of the records with the office of the Registrar/sub-registrar and court having jurisdiction over the area.
Searches for Requisition, Acquisition:-
Searches have to be made with Land acquisition office, Improvement trust, Land Reforms and Land Revenue office, etc to ascertain that the concerned property is not under any notice of requisition / acquisition. Transfer of any property under such notice is null and void and prone to subsequent litigation.
Searches for statutory approvals:-
It must be ensured that all the necessary approvals have been obtained from the relevant authorities for the project containing the property. Some of the most important approvals required are site plan sanctioned by the appropriate authority; Government agencies such as land development authority, planning authority; environmental clearance authority, Income tax clearance etc. Physical verification of the original documents and certificates must be done to ensure that the requirement of statutory approvals have been properly met and are valid. Close scrutiny of the reasons leading to the inordinate delay, abandonment, protracted legal battles, pertaining to the projects under construction reveal that in most of the cases the root cause of the projects being delayed, stalled, litigated is a violation of the sanctioned site plan, a non-approval by relevant authority or obtaining approval by misrepresentation / suppression of facts.
Extra precaution in certain immovable properties
Extra precaution is required to be taken in dealing with transactions relating to the properties of trust, minor, widow, lunatic and also when any of the parties is owned by Mohammedan or governed by the Mitakshara school of Hindu Law. There are lots of restrictions on transfer of such properties and compliance with formalities is required for legally valid transfer of properties owned by the aforesaid entities. Even a minor error can render the entire transaction void / voidable giving rise to undesired litigations.
Other important functions of the lawyer for the buyer(s) will be covered in the next part.
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This article is contributed by -IndianPropertyLawyers, simplifying property
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