GPA Sales: Why a Power of Attorney Never Makes a Bengaluru Buyer the Owner

A buyer we heard from was thrilled with a plot in an older layout off Bannerghatta Road. The price was well under the market, the paperwork looked thick and official, and the seller explained that he held a general power of attorney from the owner, who now lived abroad. It felt efficient. Then a lawyer asked to see the registered sale deed transferring the property to the seller, and there was none. What the buyer was being offered was not a sale at all. It was a general power of attorney dressed up as one.

The short answer. A general power of attorney, or GPA, does not transfer ownership of property. Since the Supreme Court's ruling in Suraj Lamp and Industries, a so called GPA sale, often a bundle of GPA, agreement to sell and a will, does not convey title, and only a duly stamped and registered sale deed can. A power of attorney holder can validly execute that registered sale deed on the owner's behalf, and in Karnataka a POA authorising property transfer must now itself be registered. The trade off is stark. GPA deals look cheaper and faster, but buying on a GPA alone leaves you without legal ownership, without easy financing and without court protection.

What a GPA is, and what it can and cannot do

A power of attorney is simply a document by which an owner authorises another person to act on their behalf, for example to manage or even to sell a property. It is a tool of agency, not a transfer of ownership. The person holding a GPA can do the things the document permits, but they do not become the owner, and neither does anyone who merely takes over that GPA.

This distinction is where buyers get hurt. Being handed a GPA, an old agreement to sell and perhaps a will can feel like receiving the keys to ownership, but legally it is nothing of the sort. Ownership of immovable property in India changes hands only through a registered conveyance, and no stack of supporting papers substitutes for that single registered sale deed.

The Suraj Lamp rule: why a GPA sale is not a sale

The Supreme Court settled this in Suraj Lamp and Industries versus State of Haryana. The court held that transactions described as GPA sales, or as combinations of a general power of attorney with an agreement to sell and a will, do not amount to a lawful transfer of immovable property. A valid sale, the court made clear, must be concluded through a duly stamped and registered sale deed.

For a buyer, the practical meaning is blunt. If you pay for a property on the strength of a GPA and never receive a registered sale deed, you have not acquired title. Courts routinely hold that such arrangements give the purchaser no ownership and little protection, so when a dispute arises later, the person with the registered title, not the GPA, tends to prevail.

It helps to understand why the practice ever took hold. GPA sales spread largely as a way to avoid stamp duty and to move properties that could not be cleanly registered, from unconverted land to disputed titles. In other words, the very reasons a property is sold on a GPA are often the reasons it cannot be sold properly. That is precisely why a buyer should read a GPA offer not as a convenient shortcut but as a question: what is it about this property that stops it from being conveyed by a normal registered sale deed?

When a POA holder can actually sell for the owner

None of this makes a power of attorney useless. It remains a legitimate and common instrument, and a properly authorised POA holder can sell an owner's property in the correct way. The key is that the sale must still be completed by a registered sale deed, which the attorney executes on behalf of the owner under the powers the document grants. Title then passes through that registered sale deed to you, exactly as it would if the owner had signed in person.

So the question a buyer should ask is not whether a POA is involved, but whether the deal ends in a registered sale deed. A registered sale deed signed by a genuine, authorised attorney is sound. A GPA handed over in place of a sale deed is not. The presence of an attorney is normal, the absence of a registered conveyance is the danger.

Karnataka's registration change for powers of attorney

Karnataka has tightened this area. Under a recent amendment to the registration law in the state, a power of attorney that authorises the transfer of immovable property must be compulsorily registered. That change matters to buyers because an unregistered POA authorising a sale carries far less weight, and a registered POA leaves a clear, verifiable record of who was authorised to act and for what.

As a buyer, this gives you a concrete thing to check. If the seller is acting under a power of attorney, ask to see the registered POA, confirm it actually authorises a sale of this property, and confirm it is still valid and not revoked. An attorney waving an unregistered or vaguely worded document is a signal to slow down and verify before any money moves.

GPA sale versus registered sale deed

The cleanest way to see the gap is to compare what each route actually gives a buyer. The table below lines up a GPA sale against a proper registered sale deed so the difference in what you walk away owning is impossible to miss.

How a buyer protects themselves

The protection is simple to state and worth insisting on. Buy only through a duly stamped and registered sale deed, executed either by the owner in person or by a registered, authorised power of attorney holder. Trace the seller's own title back through a registered chain, and run the usual encumbrance and khata checks so you know the person selling actually has clean ownership to convey.

A special word on absent owners, since that is the classic setup. When the real owner lives abroad or in another city, a GPA to a local relative or agent is normal and often genuine. The safe response is not to reject the deal but to insist that the authorised attorney executes a registered sale deed in your favour, and to verify the registered POA behind it. Where possible, a short video call with the owner confirming the sale removes most of the doubt. It is the missing registered conveyance, not the owner's absence, that should stop you.

Because so many older Bengaluru deals ride on GPAs, expect to meet them, and expect some sellers to present a low price as the reason to overlook the missing sale deed. Hold the line. Our guide on Karnataka stamp duty and registration charges shows what a proper registration costs, and the guide on plot approval authorities in Bengaluru covers the approval checks that sit alongside title. For a cleaner profile, an apartment such as Prestige Battersea near KR Puram is the kind of registered, title clean purchase this whole exercise is meant to protect.

Your GPA and title checklist

Run these seven checks whenever a power of attorney appears anywhere in the deal.

1. Ask whether the sale will end in a registered sale deed, and refuse anything less.
2. If an attorney is signing, obtain the registered power of attorney and read its powers.
3. Confirm the POA specifically authorises sale of this property and is not revoked.
4. Trace the seller's own title through a registered chain, not a GPA chain.
5. Run the encumbrance certificate and confirm the khata is clean and in order.
6. Be wary of a price set low to justify skipping a registered sale deed.
7. Have a property lawyer vet the POA, the title chain and the sale deed together.

The bottom line for a Bengaluru buyer is that a general power of attorney is a way to sign, never a way to own. Insist on a duly stamped and registered sale deed, verify any attorney's registered authority, and treat a GPA offered in place of a sale deed as a firm no. The registered deed is the only document that makes the home truly yours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a property directly on a general power of attorney?

You should not treat a general power of attorney as a purchase. Since the Supreme Court's Suraj Lamp ruling, a GPA sale does not transfer ownership, and only a duly stamped and registered sale deed conveys title. A GPA holder can sign that sale deed for the owner, but buying the GPA itself leaves you without legal ownership.

Is a GPA holder allowed to sell the owner's property at all?

Yes, but only in a specific way. A properly executed and, in Karnataka, registered power of attorney can authorise the holder to execute a registered sale deed on the owner's behalf. The title then passes through that registered sale deed, not through the GPA itself. The GPA is a tool for signing, while the sale deed transfers ownership.

Why are GPA properties often cheaper in Bengaluru?

GPA based deals are common in older layouts and resale pockets, and they are priced low precisely because the title is weaker and the risk sits with the buyer. A discount that reflects a missing registered sale deed is not a bargain, it is compensation for a problem. Insist on a proper registered conveyance and the apparent saving usually disappears.

What should I insist on instead of a GPA sale?

Insist on a duly stamped and registered sale deed, executed either by the owner in person or by a registered power of attorney holder the owner authorised. Verify the owner's title chain, encumbrance certificate and khata. If a seller can only offer a GPA and refuses a registered sale deed, treat that as a reason to walk away.

Last updated 2026-09-28. PropNewz Team.