A Bengaluru buyer in 2026 was offered a plot at a tempting discount, with one condition: the sale would be done through a general power of attorney and an agreement, not a registered sale deed, to save on stamp duty and time. It sounded efficient. It was, in fact, a way to hand over money for a piece of paper that conveys no ownership at all. India's Supreme Court settled this question years ago, and the answer for buyers is blunt: only a registered sale deed makes you the owner. A stack of power of attorney documents does not.

The short answer. In India, ownership of immovable property passes only through a registered sale deed. A general power of attorney, an agreement to sell and a will, even together and even with possession, do not convey title. The Supreme Court made this clear in the Suraj Lamp judgment, and it has been reaffirmed since. The trade-off some sellers dangle, lower stamp duty or a faster deal through a power of attorney sale, is illusory: you save a little now and risk owning nothing, because the law will not recognise you as the owner without a registered conveyance in your name.

What did the Supreme Court actually decide?

The court held that immovable property can be transferred only by a registered deed of conveyance, and that agreement to sell, power of attorney and will transactions do not convey title. In the Suraj Lamp judgment, the Supreme Court was direct: these documents do not amount to a transfer and cannot be recognised as a valid mode of transfer. The execution and registration of a sale deed is what confers right and title. This position has been consistently reaffirmed, including in recent decisions, so it is not a technicality open to argument but settled law that governs every property purchase in the country. You can read a legal summary of the position in this analysis of GPA sales and recent Supreme Court decisions.

For a buyer, the meaning is simple and non negotiable. If the only documents you receive are a power of attorney, an agreement and perhaps a will, you have not become the owner, no matter how much you paid or how long you have held possession. The transaction that makes you an owner is the registered sale deed, and nothing substitutes for it.

Is a power of attorney always a problem?

No, and this is an important distinction that buyers should understand clearly. A genuine power of attorney is a lawful tool: an owner who cannot be present can appoint an attorney to execute a registered sale deed on their behalf, and that registered deed transfers title in the normal way. What the Suraj Lamp judgment rejects is not the use of a power of attorney at all, but the practice of treating the power of attorney itself as the transfer, a so called GPA sale where no registered sale deed conveys the property to the buyer. The presence of a power of attorney in a transaction is therefore not automatically a red flag. The absence of a registered sale deed in your name is.

So when a power of attorney appears in your deal, the questions to ask are practical: is it genuine, is it valid and unrevoked, does it actually authorise the sale, and, above all, does the transaction end in a registered sale deed conveying the property to you. If the answer to that last question is no, walk away regardless of how the rest looks.

Why do sellers push power of attorney sales?

Usually to avoid stamp duty, to move property with an unclear title, or to sell what they cannot cleanly convey. A power of attorney sale can look cheaper because it may sidestep the stamp duty and registration charges that a proper sale deed attracts. But that saving is exactly the danger sign. Sometimes the seller cannot give a clean registered sale deed because the title itself is defective, disputed or unconverted, and the power of attorney route is a way to pass the problem to you while keeping your money. The discount and the shortcut are not generosity, they are often the price of a risk being quietly transferred onto the buyer.

Treat any proposal to complete a purchase without a registered sale deed in your name as a reason to stop, not to hurry. A seller with clean title and honest intentions has no reason to avoid a proper registered conveyance. The ones who push hardest for a power of attorney shortcut are frequently the ones with the most to hide.

What does this mean for your home loan and resale?

It means a power of attorney holding is weak exactly where it matters most. Lenders finance properties with clear, registered title, so a home loan against a mere power of attorney holding is generally not available, and a bank's refusal is another signal that you do not truly own the asset. Resale is just as hard, because your own future buyer, and their lawyer, will demand the registered sale deed you never obtained. A holding that cannot be mortgaged and cannot be cleanly sold is not the secure asset a home is supposed to be. The very illiquidity that makes it hard to exit is proof that the ownership was never properly established.

By contrast, a registered sale deed in your name unlocks all of this. It is what a lender lends against, what a future buyer relies on, and what the record recognises. Insisting on it is not bureaucratic caution, it is the difference between owning a home and holding a bundle of contested paper. When a seller frames the registered deed as an optional extra rather than the whole point of the purchase, they are asking you to accept the one risk no discount can justify.

How does this fit with your other title checks?

The registered sale deed requirement sits at the centre of your title diligence, and the rest of your checks support it. A full title search across the chain of registered deeds tells you the property can actually be conveyed to you cleanly, and our guide to verifying a property title in Bengaluru covers that work. It also helps to be clear on the difference between the documents involved, which our explainer on a sale agreement versus a sale deed sets out plainly. Read those alongside this, and the message is consistent: promises and authorisations are not ownership, and only a registered conveyance in your name is.

Think of your diligence as building toward one event, the registration of a clean sale deed in your favour. Everything else, the title search, the encumbrance check, the approvals, exists to make sure that final registered deed is worth having. If a deal is structured to avoid that event, the diligence has nowhere to land.

What are the seven steps to protect your title?

Work through these before you pay.

1. Insist that the transaction end in a registered sale deed conveying the property to you.
2. Refuse to treat a power of attorney, agreement or will as the transfer document.
3. If a power of attorney is used, confirm it is genuine, valid, unrevoked and authorises the sale.
4. Run a full title search across the chain of registered deeds.
5. Check the encumbrance certificate for registered loans and prior transactions.
6. Have a property lawyer review the structure of the deal before any payment.
7. Register the sale deed in your name and keep the registered document safely.

Is a discounted power of attorney deal ever worth it?

No, not for a home buyer who wants to actually own their home. The apparent saving on stamp duty or the speed of a power of attorney sale is trivial against the risk of paying for property you do not legally own, cannot mortgage and cannot cleanly resell. The law is settled and will not bend to the convenience of a shortcut, so a discount offered in exchange for skipping the registered sale deed is not a bargain, it is a warning. The safe rule is simple and absolute: pay for property only when you receive, or are simultaneously receiving, a registered sale deed in your own name. Anything less is not a cheaper way to buy a home, it is a way to lose one.

Frequently asked questions

Does a GPA give me ownership of a property? No. The Supreme Court, in the Suraj Lamp judgment, held that a general power of attorney, an agreement to sell and a will do not convey title to immovable property. Ownership passes only through a registered sale deed. A GPA sale, where you receive only these documents and no registered conveyance, does not make you the legal owner.

Can a power of attorney holder ever sell a property? Yes, but only properly. A genuine attorney appointed by the owner can execute a registered sale deed on the owner's behalf, and that deed transfers title normally. What is not valid is treating the power of attorney itself as the transfer, with no registered sale deed conveying the property to you.

Why is a GPA sale cheaper? It often avoids the stamp duty and registration charges that a proper sale deed attracts. Sometimes the seller uses the route because the title is defective or disputed and cannot be cleanly conveyed. The saving is small and the risk is large, because you may pay for property you never legally own. Treat the discount as a warning sign.

Can I get a home loan on a GPA property? Generally no. Lenders finance properties with clear, registered title, so a home loan against a mere power of attorney holding is usually not available. A bank declining to lend is a strong signal that you do not truly own the asset. Resale is equally difficult, because a future buyer will insist on the registered sale deed you never obtained.

Last updated 2026-08-28. PropNewz Team.