Reiterating that a co-mortgagor is not permitted to redeem his share of mortgaged property by payment of proportionate part of due amount, the Kerala High Court has asked the Sub Registrar to register a sale deed relating to a portion of a mortgaged property after the petitioner complies with all the requirements of registration, without insisting on a no objection certificate from the secured creditor.

The writ petition was filed seeking to quash a letter issued by the Sub Registrar to the third respondent intimating the reasons for his inability to register the sale deed presented before him and for a direction to the Sub Registrar to register the deed de hors the objection raised.

Referring to the judgment in Chhaganlal Keshavlal Mehta v. Patel Narandas Haribhai [1982], the Single Bench of Justice T.R.Ravi explained, “...the Hon’ble Supreme Court had considered the right of a co-mortgagor under Section 60 of the Transfer of Property Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) and held that he cannot be permitted to redeem his own share of the mortgaged property by payment of a proportionate part of the amount remaining due. This restriction clearly applies to the petitioner.”

Factual Background

The petitioner sought to buy a portion of a mortgaged property. The registration had been denied, stating that the petitioner has to obtain a no objection certificate from the creditor. There was also a dispute regarding the stamp duty. The petitioner was aggrieved since there was a direction to approach the creditor for NOC.

Arguments

It was the case of the Petitioner that no such NOC is required since any transfer of a mortgaged property would only give the buyer the right of a mortgagor and he will not be able to redeem the mortgage in part.

Reasoning

It was explained that the rights of the secured creditor are protected by Sections 26C and 26D of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act since it gives priority to the right over any transfer of the mortgaged property that may have been effected. The buyer can buy the property subject to the rights of the mortgagee and also subject to the fact that he will be able to enjoy the property as a full owner, only after redeeming the entire debt.

“In view of the said legal position, I do not think that there can be any objection to the registration”, the Bench said.

Reference was also made to the judgment of the Supreme Court in Samarendra Nath Sinha and another vs. Krishna Kumar Nag (1967) wherein it has been held that an execution purchaser of whole or part of the equity of redemption has also the right to redeem the mortgaged property since he derives title from the mortgagor and is included in the term “mortgagor”. This also contemplates the possibility of a purchase of a part of the equity of redemption.

Allowing the Writ Petition, the Bench directed the Sub Registrar to register the sale deed when the original is presented before him and if the petitioner complies with all the requirements of registration, without insisting on a no objection certificate from the secured creditor.

Cause Title: Sathyajith M S v. The District Registrar & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2025:KER:15734)

Appearance:

Petitioner: Advocates R.Lakshmi Narayan, R.Ranjanie

Respondent: Senior Advocate T. Sethumadhavan. GP Rajeev Jyothish George

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Kerala HCJustice T.R Ravi

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.