A Deed of Conveyance is not
legally required to be signed on each and every page by the vendor and the
purchaser, unless a specific statute, rule, or contractual stipulation
mandates otherwise.
Correct Legal
Position (India)
1. Essential requirement
o The execution
of a conveyance is complete when:
§ The deed is signed
at the end by the executants (vendor and purchaser),
§ It is attested
as required under law (where applicable), and
§ It is duly stamped
and registered under the Registration Act, 1908.
2. No statutory mandate
for page-wise signatures
o Neither the Transfer
of Property Act, 1882, nor the Registration Act, 1908, nor the Indian
Contract Act, 1872 mandates signatures on each page of a conveyance deed.
3. Page-wise signatures
are procedural, not mandatory
o Signing each page is
a precautionary practice sometimes insisted upon by:
§ Sub-Registrars
(administrative convenience),
§ Banks / financial
institutions,
§ Developers (to avoid
interpolation disputes).
o Absence of page-wise
signatures does not invalidate a duly executed and registered
conveyance.
4. Judicial view
(settled principle)
o Courts have
consistently held that once the deed is executed at the end and registered,
mere absence of initials or signatures on each page cannot render the deed
void or unenforceable, unless fraud or interpolation is specifically
proved.
Drafting Language You
May Use (If Objecting to Page-wise Signing)
“The Deed of Conveyance, having been
duly executed by the Vendor and the Purchaser at its concluding part and being
otherwise complete in all respects, does not require execution on each page,
there being no statutory mandate to that effect. Any insistence upon page-wise
signature is merely procedural and cannot be treated as a condition precedent
for validity of the instrument.”
There is no statutory requirement
under Indian law mandating that a Deed of Conveyance must be signed or
initialled on each page by the vendor and the purchaser.
Statutory Position
(Clear Answer)
1. Transfer of Property
Act, 1882
o Does not
prescribe any formality requiring page-wise signatures for a conveyance.
o Section 54 (Sale)
only requires execution of a registered instrument—nothing more.
2. Registration Act,
1908
o Sections 32, 34,
and 35 deal with who may present, admission of execution, and
registration procedure.
o There is no
provision requiring signatures or initials on every page of the document.
3. Indian Contract Act,
1872
o Governs formation of
contracts but does not regulate execution formalities such as page-wise
signing.
4. Stamp Acts (Central /
State)
o Concerned with proper
stamping, not execution on each page.
5. Evidence Act, 1872
o Proof of execution is
by showing that the executant signed the document—not that every page bears a
signature.
What the Law Actually
Requires
For a conveyance to be valid:
- Signature
of the executant(s) at the end of the deed,
- Attestation,
where applicable,
- Proper
stamping,
and
- Registration.
Once these are satisfied, the deed is
legally complete.
Why Page-wise
Signatures Are Sometimes Insisted Upon
- Sub-Registrar’s
office practice (administrative, not statutory),
- Banking
or developer compliance norms,
- Precaution
against interpolation.
Such insistence does not derive from
any Act, Rule, or Regulation.
Legal Principle
(Settled)
A registered deed cannot be
invalidated or refused legal effect merely because:
- Pages
are not signed or initialled individually,
- Provided
execution at the concluding part is admitted and proved.
One-line Legal Answer
(for use in pleadings)
“There exists no provision under the
Transfer of Property Act, 1882, the Registration Act, 1908, or any other law in
force which mandates that a Deed of Conveyance must bear the signatures or
initials of the executants on each page.”
Leading
Judicial Precedents
1. Aloka
Bose v. Parmatma Devi & Ors., (2009) 2 SCC 582
Supreme Court of India
Ratio:
A document is validly executed if it is signed at the end by the executant. The
absence of signatures on every page does not invalidate the document.
Relevant Observation:
“Execution of a document
means signing of the document by the executant… there is no requirement in law
that each page of the document should be signed.”
2. S.R. Srinivasa
v. S. Padmavathamma, (2010) 5 SCC 274
Supreme Court of India
Ratio:
Once execution is admitted and the document is registered, technical objections
relating to form or page-wise signing are immaterial unless fraud or
interpolation is proved.
Principle:
Registration cures minor procedural defects.
3. Chandrakantaben
J. Modi v. Vadilal Bapalal Modi, (1989) 2 SCC 630
Supreme Court of India
Ratio:
Validity of an instrument depends on execution and intention, not on
hyper-technical formalities like initials on every page.
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