A Bengaluru buyer was offered a plot near Kanakapura Road at a tempting discount, with one condition: the sale would be done through a general power of attorney because the owner lived abroad and a registered sale deed was inconvenient. It sounded like a paperwork shortcut. It was, in fact, an offer to buy something the seller could not legally give. The Supreme Court has said so more than once, and a buyer who ignores that ruling is not saving time but risking the entire purchase, along with every rupee already paid toward it.

The short answer. In India, only a registered sale deed transfers ownership of immovable property. A general power of attorney, or GPA, does not. The Supreme Court reaffirmed this in 2025, following its landmark Suraj Lamp ruling, holding that a GPA merely creates an agency relationship and an agreement to sell gives only a right to seek specific performance, not title. The trade-off a GPA sale offers is false: you may pay a lower price and skip stamp duty now, but you receive no ownership, no clean title, and real exposure if the arrangement unravels. For a Bengaluru buyer, the rule is simple: insist on a registered sale deed, every time.

Does a power of attorney actually transfer property ownership?

No, and this is the single most important thing a buyer can understand. According to the Supreme Court ruling reported by SCC Online in Ramesh Chand v. Suresh Chand, only a registered sale deed can transfer ownership of immovable property. The Court held that a general power of attorney merely creates an agency relationship and does not by itself transfer ownership rights, that an agreement for sale does not by itself create any right, title, or interest and only gives a right to seek specific performance, and that even a registered will must be proved to evidentiary standards. A GPA authorises someone to act on the owner's behalf, nothing more. It is a permission slip, not a deed, and it does not make them, or their buyer, the owner. Confusing the two is the mistake at the heart of every GPA property trap.

What did the Supreme Court actually rule?

The position is not new, which is why buyers have no excuse to be caught out. The Court's landmark decision in Suraj Lamp and Industries versus State of Haryana, reported at (2012) 1 SCC 656, established that agreements to sell and GPAs do not amount to a valid conveyance and cannot transfer ownership regardless of possession or consideration, and that only a registered deed of conveyance transfers title. In 2025, in Ramesh Chand v. Suresh Chand, the Court reiterated these limits, spelling out again that the trio of an agreement to sell, a power of attorney, and a will does not add up to ownership. The message across more than a decade of rulings is consistent: the registered sale deed is the only instrument that moves title, and no combination of lesser documents substitutes for it.

Why do GPA sales still happen, and why are they a trap?

GPA sales persist because they appear cheaper and faster. A seller avoids capital gains scrutiny or an inconvenient registration, a buyer is offered a discount, and both tell themselves the paperwork can be regularised later. The trap is that later may never come, and in the meantime the buyer owns nothing the law recognises. If the seller dies, the power of attorney is automatically revoked, and any transaction attempted afterward using it is invalid. If the seller quietly registers a deed of revocation, the authority vanishes. If the seller sells the same property again to someone with a registered deed, that buyer, not the GPA holder, is likely to prevail. The discount you were offered is the price of accepting all of this risk, and it is almost never worth it. There is a second, quieter problem too. A property that has changed hands on a GPA once tends to carry that defect forward, because the next honest buyer, or their bank's lawyer, will trace the chain and stop at the point where a registered conveyance is missing. So even if nothing goes wrong during your ownership, you may find the flaw surfaces the day you try to sell or mortgage, when a careful buyer walks away from exactly the gap you once accepted. A GPA deal does not just risk your purchase. It can quietly cap what your property is worth to everyone who comes after you.

What are the Karnataka rules on registering a power of attorney?

Karnataka has tightened the position specifically. As explained in the Karnataka power of attorney guidance published by OneCity Property, a power of attorney that authorises the transfer of immovable property, whether by sale, gift, exchange, or any other mode, must be registered at the Sub-Registrar's office rather than merely notarised. A general power of attorney still cannot substitute for a registered sale deed, and a special power of attorney authorising one specific act, such as executing a sale deed for a named property, is the cleaner instrument with a clearer verification trail. Because the exact commencement and wording of the Karnataka registration amendment have been reported differently across sources, confirm the current requirement directly with the Sub-Registrar's office or on the Kaveri portal before relying on any POA in a transaction.

How should a buyer protect against a GPA property trap?

Protection is mostly refusal, supported by a few checks. The firm rule is to buy only against a registered sale deed executed by the true owner, or, where a POA is genuinely necessary because the owner is abroad, to insist on a registered specific power of attorney and a registered sale deed executed under it. Verify that the principal, the actual owner, is alive and genuinely authorising the sale, through independent contact rather than the agent's assurance. Check with the issuing Sub-Registrar for any registered deed of revocation that would have cancelled the POA. Be especially wary where the POA holder is selling to themselves or a close relative, an arrangement courts have invalidated. Buying instead into a clean, RERA registered project with a straightforward registered sale deed, such as ARATT Ayatana Residences, sidesteps the GPA question entirely.

The contrast is not close once the law is laid alongside the sales pitch. The table frames what each actually gives a buyer, and it is worth keeping in view the next time a discount is dangled in exchange for skipping registration.

What should your power of attorney checklist cover?

1. Insist on a registered sale deed as the only document that actually transfers ownership to you.
2. Refuse a general power of attorney sale, however large the discount offered looks.
3. If a POA is unavoidable, require a registered specific power of attorney for the named property.
4. Confirm the principal, the real owner, is alive and authorising the sale through independent contact.
5. Check the Sub-Registrar records for any registered deed of revocation cancelling the POA.
6. Be wary where the POA holder is selling to themselves or a close relative.
7. Confirm the current Karnataka POA registration requirement at the Sub-Registrar or on Kaveri.

Is a discounted GPA property ever worth the risk?

For an ordinary buyer, almost never. The discount on a GPA deal exists precisely because the seller is transferring risk, not title, and the Supreme Court has closed off the hope that possession or payment will somehow cure the defect. A buyer who accepts a GPA sale is betting that nothing goes wrong with a stranger's mortality, honesty, and paperwork over many years, and that bet has no upside large enough to justify it for a home. The honest framing is that the registered sale deed is not bureaucratic friction to be minimised but the very thing you are paying for, because it is what makes the property yours. When a seller resists it, they are telling you which risks they would rather you carried. The right response, backed by the highest court in the country, is to walk away. This is the same discipline that a clean deed brings to choosing between a gift deed, sale deed, and will, and to getting the sub-registrar jurisdiction right at registration.

Can a property be legally sold through a general power of attorney?

No. The Supreme Court has held that only a registered sale deed transfers ownership of immovable property. A general power of attorney merely creates an agency relationship and does not convey title. A GPA can authorise someone to execute a registered sale deed, but the GPA itself never makes the holder or their buyer the owner of the property.

What happens to a GPA if the owner dies?

A power of attorney is automatically revoked on the death of the principal, so any transaction attempted afterward using that POA is invalid. This is one of the biggest risks of a GPA based purchase, because a buyer relying on the authority can suddenly find it has legally ceased to exist, leaving them without a valid transfer or clear ownership.

Does Karnataka require a power of attorney to be registered?

Karnataka has moved to make a power of attorney that authorises the transfer of immovable property compulsorily registrable at the Sub-Registrar's office rather than merely notarised. Because the exact commencement has been reported differently, confirm the current requirement directly with the Sub-Registrar or on the Kaveri portal before relying on any POA.

Is a specific power of attorney safer than a general one?

For a property sale, yes. A specific power of attorney authorises one named act, such as executing a sale deed for a particular property, which gives a clearer verification trail than a broad general power of attorney. Even so, the transfer of ownership still happens only through the registered sale deed executed under that authority, never through the POA alone.

Last updated 2026-07-11. PropNewz Team.