No need to pay fees to revenue department for sub-division:HC

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has ruled that a buyer of a land need not pay fee again to the revenue authorities for sub-division of immovable property and issue of patta.
A division bench, comprising of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice S.Tamilvanan, held that once the application, along with fee, is collected with the document for registration of immovable property, the registration department should forward the same to the Revenue Department for sub-division survey work and patta issue to the owner (buyer) of the land.
The court was passing orders while closing a petition by Madurai-based Consumer Rights Protection Council Secretary O Paramasivam challenging levy of fees by both Registration and Revenue departments.

The Inspector of Registration had stated that patta transfer application in prescribed form is tendered along with documents presented for registration and forwarded by the sub- registrar to the tehsildar in whose jurisdiction the property was situated. The job of collecting the fee for sub-division survey and issue of patta was entrusted with the Registration Department as per a Government Order issued in 1984.
"This shows that requirement is to pay only one set of fee, but the collecting agency for such fee is now registration office. No second set of fee (demanded now by the revenue department) is required to be paid," the judges said.