Mentoassociates.com – Legal Articles

The sale agreement holder of a property is not entitled to sell the property to another person for the reason that he does not have absolute rights over the property. In such a case it is very common to enter into an assignment agreement to transfer the rights of the sale agreement holder to another person.

The person who transfers his rights is called assignor. The person who obtains rights through the assignment agreement is called assignee. Normally an assignment is done for some consideration.

Let us take an example. Assume A enters into a Sale agreement with B for the sale of a property, for, say Rs.100/- Here A is the vendor and B is the purchaser. Now B wants to assign his rights to C for a total consideration of Rs.120/-. Here B is the assignor and C is the assignee. The net profit got by B is Rs. 20/-.

Normally, the approval of the original vendor is required for an assignment. For this original owner may be made as a consenting witness. Some builders/owners may insist for a transfer fee for an assignment. The assignee gets all the rights and obligations of the assignor after the assignment agreement is signed and he steps into the shoes of the original agreement holder (assignor). An assignment agreement shall be carefully drafted with the assistance of an experienced advocate.

A Sale Agreement is a very common deed that one executes in transactions pertaining to immovable properties. In this article, let us see, the major ingredients of a normal sale agreement.

a) A sale agreement should contain the name, father’s name, age and address of the seller and purchaser.
b) It shall also contain the date of the agreement as well as the place where the agreement is executed.
c) A brief description of the property which is the subject matter of the sale shall be given in the body of the agreement and the detailed description of the same shall be given in a separate schedule which is at the last portion of the sale agreement. As a normal convention, the property which is the subject matter of a sale agreement is referred in the agreement as schedule property.
d) The sale agreement shall contain a clause, to the effect that the seller has offered the property for sale, to the purchaser and the purchaser has agreed to purchase the property from the seller.
e) There shall be a mention of the total sale consideration amount, as well as the amount which is paid at the time of entering into the agreement.
f) The period of the agreement shall be clearly spelt out in the agreement. It is the duty of the purchaser to pay the balance sale amount before the date of registration and get the property registered in his name.
g) The purchaser will have a right to appoint a nominee on his behalf for the purpose of registering the property.
h) It is ideal to give a brief description of the history of the property.
i) Normally, a penalty clause is provided in the sale agreement with an intention to derive commitment and seriousness from the parties to the agreement.
j) If there is any outstanding loan over the schedule property, the details of the same shall be mentioned in the sale agreement and the manner in which the seller shall clear the said loan has to be mentioned in the sale agreement.
k) If there are any other documents to be procured by the seller or any things to be done from the side of the seller before the date of registration, then the same shall find a place in the agreement.
l) Normally, all the expenses towards the drafting of the sale agreement, sale deed, stamp duty, registration charges etc shall be borne by the purchaser.
m) The possession of the property shall be handed over to the purchaser on the day of the registration. If the possession is handed over at the time of sale agreement, then the stamp duty on the sale agreement will considerably vary.
n) The original documents are normally handed over by the seller to the purchaser at the time of registration.
o) The sale agreement shall be signed by both the seller and purchaser and the same shall be witnessed by two witnesses.
p) Only advocates and registered deed writers are authorized to draft a sale agreement.

Gift is a very common mode of transfer in immovable as well as movable properties. Section 122 of the Transfer Of property Act defines a Gift as a transfer of moveable and immovable property by one person called the “Donor” to another person called the “Donee”. A Gift shall be made voluntarily and without any consideration. The gift shall be accepted by the Donee during the lifetime of the Donor. A gift can be made only of a property that is existing and not of future things. A gift, once given, cannot be revoked, in the normal course, for any reasons.

A Gift Deed needs to be registered and attested by two witnesses. It also attracts stamp duty. When the Donee is a member of the family of the Donor (including husband, wife, son, daughter, daughter in law and grand children) there is a stamp duty benefit when the gift of the immovable property is made. Gifts not covering the above said relations and between strangers involve stamp duty as in a sale transaction. A gift of movable property can be effected by simple delivery of the property.

As far as possible market value of the property gifted should be indicated in the Gift deed. There should be a clause that the donee has received possession of the gifted property. The Donor should not reserve any right for himself in the gifted property.

With the increasing number of cases, where Indian nationals married in India, trying to get divorce and other matrimonial reliefs from foreign courts, it is interesting to know the legal position regarding the applicability of foreign judgments in India. In normal circumstances, the courts in India treat foreign judgments to be conclusive regarding any matter which is directly adjudicated upon between the same parties. However in the following instances, Indian courts do not recognize foreign judgments.

a) When the foreign judgment is not pronounced by a court of competant jurisdiction.
b) When the judgment is not given based on the merits of the case.
c) When it is based on an incorrect view of International law.
d) When it has not recognized Indian Laws where such laws are applicable.
e) When the proceedings are opposed to natural justice.
f) When it is obtained by fraud.
g) Where it sustains a claim founded in a breach of any law in India.

The Governor of Karnataka has asked the state government to clear the legal hurdles before it seeks his approval for the Sakrama bill. The Sakrama scheme is already stayed by the Karnataka high court on 11-12-07 based on petitions filed by Jagadishnagara Residents Welfare Association and Kalynanagar’s Prakruti lay out Plot owners Association.

BWSSB has decided not to sanction new water connections to multistoryied residential and commercial apartments till 2011 end.This was announced by minister in charge of BWSSB, Katta subramanya Naidu on 20-07-10.

BBMP Plans to clean and fill vacant and uneven sites which are filled with obnoxious vegetation or  filth causing nuisance and disturbance to  neighbours.As per provisions of Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act, site owners are supposed keep their sites clean and tidy. In case they do not do the same, BBMP has the power to do the cleaning and then charge the said amount for the site owners.

As per press reports, BWSSB has issued notices to nearly one lakh building owners for not taking steps to harvest rain water.

The rural development ministry of the central government has come up with a Land Titling Bill which may revolutionize the property transactions in the country making them easier and safer. Accordingly property title will be conclusive and guaranteed by the government. Every immovable property will have a unique identification number. A Land Titling Authority will be formed which will enforce uniform procedures regarding titling. There will be a Registry of Title which will make entries regarding changes of the tile holder after a transaction. The overall scheme may help reduce litigations in courts and it will also make land acquisitions faster. There is going to be a 5 year deadline after which the transactions done beyond the purview of Titling Authority may be deemed invalid.

GOBAL INVESTORS MEET-2010

The Global Investors Meet was held on the 3rd and 4th of June 2010 at Bangalore at the initiative of Karnataka Government to attract investments in Karnataka. From the government side the key players included Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, Industries Minister Murugesh Nirani and V P Baligar, Principal Secretary, Industries Department.

HIGHLIGHTS:

1.Government of Karnataka signed 361 MOU (Memorandum Of Understanding) with investors who promised to invest Rs 3.92 lakhs crores in the state during the two day Global Investors Meet (GIM) held at Palace Grounds, Bangalore.

2.Some prominent companies which signed MOUs included Arcelor Mittal, POSCO, Reliance, Brahmani Steel, Rajashree Cements, Wipro, Infosys, JSW Group, Shell and HAL.

3.About 3900 companies from 18 countries and 21 Indian states participated in the meet. Companies from countries like UK, USA, Germany, France, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sweden Singapore, China, Switzerland etc, participated in the meet. About 7600 delegates also attended the meet. 20 % of the total investment proposals were from foreign countries.

4.Maximum investment was agreed upon in the Iron and Steel Sector followed by Power and Cement.

5.IRON AND STEEL SECTOR: In the iron and Steel Sector, commitments to the tune of Rs 2.43 lakhs crores were given for 52 projects. Mr. Lakshmi Mittal from Arcelona Mittal was the first industrialist to sign an MOU to start a proposed Steel Plant at Bellary for Rs 30,000 crores. Karnataka minister Janardhana reddy‘s wife Aruna Lakshmi singed an MOU on behalf of Brahmani Steels to set up a Rs 36,000 crore steel plant in Sandur and Hospet in  Bellary. POSCO signed MOU to invest Rs 32,336 crores in Bagalkot. Shree Renuka Infra projects Limited signed an MOU worth Rs 6000 crore for a steel Plant   in Vijayanagara.

6.POWER SECTOR: In the power sector the investment proposals stood at 44,152 crores in 38 projects. Shree Renuka Infra projects Limited signed an MOU worth Rs 6000 crore for a power project    in Belgaum.

7.IT: Wipro announced that it will invest Rs 537 crore for a software development center in Bangalore. Infosys signed MOU worth Rs 2,250 crore to set up two software development centers in Bangalore

8.HEALTH CARE: Eleven MOUs worth Rs 4,500 crore were signed with nearly 26000 employments assured. Sagar Hospital signed MOU worth  Rs 3000 crore followed by Narayana Hrudayalaya with 990 crores for  Bangalore Rural. HCG
signed an MOU to stet up a comprehensive cancer treatment and research center at Devanahalli near Banglaore.

9.HELI-TOURISM PROJECTS: During GIM, Karnataka got its first heli-tourism project. A Delhi based company signed the MOU to conduct the tour  packages in Hampi-Bijapur Sector(Hampi- Badami, Pattadkal and Bijapur). The aviation company said it will start its operation in  two to three months time.

10. INFRA STRUCTURE SECTOR: In the infrastructure sector, the government presented 89 project reports, worth nearly Rs 92,000 crores under  the Public Private partnership(PPP).

11.AIRSTRIPS: The government announced to develop 11 airstrips in small towns of Karnataka within the next 18 months. With these, every 100 km in the state will have air connectivity. The government had initially allowed the same under PPP; however no response came from the private firms. Now there are 5 airport projects under the PPP and AAI is developing 6
airports.

12. FINANCE: Canara Bank has committed an initial amount of Rs 20,000 crore, for financially feasible projects identified at GIM.

13.FOLLOW UPS: The state has already launched an interactive website for the investors. Passwords would be given to all investors who signed MOUs at the GIM. The government said that it will consider all these projects in the next State High Level Clearance Committee meeting to be held in June. The Chief Minister assured that the implementation of the projects
will be reviewed every month  by the Chief Secretary and once in three months personally by him.