In Brief
An elderly widow, Veena Singh, objected to registration of a sale deed of her land, claiming her signatures were obtained fraudulently and the property description was incorrect. The Sub-Registrar refused registration; the developer appealed to the District Registrar (using wrong procedure), who ordered registration. The High Court dismissed her writ petition. The Supreme Court held that signing a document does not equal executing it—execution requires understanding and consent to its terms. Since the widow admitted signing but denied execution based on alleged fraud, the Registrar acted unlawfully by ordering registration without resolving these serious substantive disputes. Only a civil court can finally determine such fraud claims. The Court set aside the registration order.
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