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Cancellation of a registered POA must also be registered and notice sent to the Attorney

Citation : Amar Nath v. Gian Chand And Anr, Civil Appeal No. 5797 Of 2009 

Date of Judgment/Order : 28-01-2022

Court/Tribunal : Supreme Court Of India

Corum: K.M. Joseph, J.

Background

The Appellant claimed that a power of attorney (POA) was issued by him for sale of a property. The deed was registered and then subsequently cancelled by writing "Cancelled" on the POA in the presence of the Respondent and the Attorney and the Attorney had returned the POA back to him. He claimed that inspite of that, the Attorney sold the property to the Respondent. However, he admitted that the cancellation of the POA was not registered nor was the Respondent or the Attorney informed officially.

The Respondent as well as the Attorney claimed that the POA was never cancelled and the transaction was within the knowledge of the Appellant.

Trial court ruled against the Appellate which on appeal was overturned by the High Court and finally reached the Supreme Court.

Judgment

The Supreme Court agreeing with the Trial Court held that cancellation of a registered POA must also be registered. Even in the absence of a registered cancellation of the POA, the mere writing of a word cancelled on the original power of attorney did not mean that the POA had been cancelled, till notice was given to the Attorney and any other third party(s) affected by the same.

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