Laws are often one of the neglected aspects of investing in properties in Pakistan. It happens because of people’s inadequacy to understand the laws and the process of making them beneficial to secure their rights in front of the courts. 
 
For whatever reason, we see people in Pakistan battling ‘with’ laws in their daily transactions, let alone property buying and selling. The same story goes with property laws; they are made to facilitate buying and selling process, honoring the rights of both parties.

Here we’ll discuss the four fundamental laws about property purchasing and disposal and explore what they have for an everyday citizen. 

Registration Act 1908

Registration Act 1908 gives out a comprehensive detail about property registration in Pakistan. It has a total of fifteen (15) parts explaining all the nitty-gritty ranging from “establishing offices to facilitating the registration process” to “penalties affecting one who has not registered their real estate yet.”

Following are the names of the ‘Parts’ and some context of the details mentioned in them in the 1908 Act. 

• Part-I: It introduces the vocabulary or technical jargon involved during the communication of property laws.

• Part-II: It discusses the details of the establishment of infrastructure that facilitates the registration process.

• Part-III: It provides information related to the necessary and optional documents while registering property.

• Part-IV: It’s related to the ‘time’ for presenting the property documents at the registrar’s offices.

• Part-V: It discusses the place of registration.

• Part-VI: It examines the presentation of the property’s records, such as ‘the person who is presenting,’ ‘power of attorney,’ etc.

• Part-VII: It enforces laws related to the ‘appearance of witnesses’ and ‘executants.’

• Part-VIII: It discusses ‘presenting wills’ and ‘authorities to adopt’ for registration.

• Part-IX: It tells about the ‘creation’ and ‘the disposal of wills’ required for the property.

• Part-X: It describes in detail the effect of ‘property is registered,’ ‘the land or property is not registered,’ or ‘registered but not according to the law.’

• Part-XI: It discusses the rules, regulations, powers, special duties, and authorities of the registration officers.

• Part-XIA: It further added concerns about copying and photographing the original documents.

• Part-XII: It explains why the registrar or sub-registrar could have refused the properties for registration.

• Part-XIII: It gives out information related to the fees, searches, and copies of the registration and presentation.

• Part-XIV: It describes what will happen to the officers in case of malfunctions in their work with a deliberate stance of the intent to cause injury.

• Part-XV: It discusses the miscellaneous laws concerning ‘the damage of the property papers,’ ‘defects in the appointment procedure of the registrars or sub-registrars,’ etc.
   

To acquire further information about the registration laws of the properties, you can discuss it either with a real estate agent or a person who specializes in the country’s constitution and laws. 

Stamp Act 1899

Stamp Definition: In a simpler language, a stamped document can be seen as a record that is come under a legal binding and acts as a contract with a person or organization with the government’s body. 

Stamp Act 1899 serves the same principle, which tells about the complexities involved in a contract made between the government and a person or an organization for any particular asset – in our case, real estate. Furthermore, it also discusses the revenue that is being collected from the contracted ‘party’ through the use of stamp papers.

Following are the details of the Stamp Act 1899, which everyone – buyer or seller should know about. 

• Chapter-I: It contains the title, extent, commencement, and definitions of the terms involved in the following laws.

• Chapter-II: It in detail mentions the stamp duties for the liabilities of the instruments, mode of using the stamp, time of stamping tool, valuations for the duty, and duties paid by whom section.

• Chapter-III: It discusses the ‘adjudication or judgment of the proper stamp paper,’ ‘certificate provided by collector,’ and ‘designated officer.’

• Chapter-IV: It mentions what happens if instruments or papers were not duly stamped, powers of a collector to seal premises, prosecution for an offense against stamp law, etc.

• Chapter-V: It concerns with what are the ‘special cases’ where allowances for stamps can be produced or made.

• Chapter-VI: It explains the courts’ references, revisions in the court’s decision, and the powers granted to them.

• Chapter-VII: It delivers laws about the penalties, offenses, punishments, and jurisdiction that happen to one who hasn’t duly implemented things and procedures mentioned in the law. 

• Chapter-VIII: It extends the further supplementary rules and laws, such as: ‘the power to make rules relating to stamps,’ ‘publication of rules,’ ‘book’s inspection,’ etc.
  

Having your property papers stamped by relevant authorities gives you a lot of benefits, including a claim over property, legal binding or assurance, etc. 

Land Revenue Act 1967

Land Revenue Act introduced in the constitution of 1967 deals with the laws governing district’s and division’s lands, revenue officers, village officers, making of rights and periodical records, etc. It further extends its regulations and imposes assessments, such as general and special assessments.   

Let’s review the fundamental rights the ACT 1967 provides to an everyday citizen in the course of acquiring land and managing revenue. 

• Chapter-I: It discusses the basic definitions, exclusion of certain lands, short title, extent, and commencements.

• Chapter-II: It tells the laws concerning the division of provinces into districts and further districts into sub-divisions.

• Chapter-III: It elaborates on the appointment duration, administrative control, and the powers delegated to revenue officers.

• Chapter-IV: It further expands the ‘procedures’ allocated to revenue officers, such as: ‘mode of services,’ ‘power to make rules,’ ‘arrest if defaulters,’ ‘place of sittings,’ etc.

• Chapter-V: It presents laws related to the village officers and their scope of work.

• Chapter-VI: The first section tells about the preparation of rights, the second tells about the procedures involved in the record creation, the third describes the ‘right’ of the state on mines, minerals, forests, quarries, etc., and the fourth records other supplemental revisions.

• Chapter-VII: It discusses the laws related to general and special assessment of land and revenue.

• Chapter-VIII: The laws mentioned in Chapter VIII imply the complete procedure (liability, security, notices, transfers, rules, costs, etc.) involved in the collection of land revenue. Furthermore, it also dictates the ‘procedure of making sales.’

• Chapter-IX: It states the laws related to the recovery of ‘arrears – money needs to be paid’ through the help of revenue officers.

• Chapter-X: It deals with the ‘surveys and boundaries’ of the administrative bodies located in separate provinces.

• Chapter-XI: It defines laws for ‘partition,’ such as: ‘application of partition,’ ‘partition in case of inheritance,’ ‘questions of the title of holding,’ and tens of others.

• Chapter-XII: It’s for arbitration, including ‘power,’ ‘nomination,’ ‘process,’ ‘award,’ ‘effect of an award,’ etc.

• Chapter-XIII: It deals with the laws of making appeals, review, revision, clerical mistakes, etc.

• Chapter-XIV: It includes laws concerning supplemental provisions, such as ‘revenue deposits,’ ‘order of civil and criminal courts,’ ‘exclusion of jurisdiction of civil courts,’ and ‘general rules: prevention of encroachments, penalties for encroachments, etc.’

• Chapter-XV: It contains miscellaneous laws catering to actions, including ‘appointment of Lambardars,’ ‘power to make rules,’ ‘repeals and savings,’ etc.

Everyone should at least go through these laws, especially those who are mentioned in the Land of Property Act 1967, as it introduces a layperson to its property rights and especially how to defend a property after a recent surge in encroachment drives facilitated by the government.

Transfer of Property Act 1882

Transfer of Property Act 1882 gives out a plethora of information related to the transfer of property (moveable or immovable), ownership rights, sales, charges, exchanges, transference of actionable claims, etc. It was introduced by the British government in 1882, which was then adopted by the state of Pakistan and India simultaneously after the partition in 1947. 

Following are the crux of lawful knowledge presented in the act: 

• Chapter-I: As usual, it describes the definitions of technical jargon or vocabularies involved in the act.

• Chapter-II: It defines the details of the transference of property, both moveable and immovable, such as persons competent to transfer, operations of transfer, vested interest, conditional transfer, transferee’s right under the policy, etc.

• Chapter-III: It defined the ‘sale’ of immovable and placed out laws for contracts, liabilities, and rights between buyer and seller.

• Chapter-IV: It elaborates ‘on mortgages’ and showcases complete laws that will be helpful concerning ‘mortgages of immovable property.’ Moreover, this chapter also defines the ‘rights and liabilities of mortgager,’ ‘deposit in court,’ ‘marshaling and contributions,’ ‘priorities,’ etc.

• Chapter-V: It expands on ‘lease,’ lessor,’ and ‘lessee’ along with ‘rights and liabilities of lessor and lessee,’ ‘rights of lessor’s transferee,’ ‘exemption of leases for agricultural purposes.,’ and ‘determination of the lease.’

• Chapter-VI: It defines ‘exchange of property’ and laws giving protection to the rights of both parties involved in the transaction.

• Chapter-VII: It explains the transfer of property as a ‘gift’ between the parties and the delicacies that are involved in it.

• Chapter-VIII: The last chapter tells ‘the transfer of actionable claims,’ including ‘liability of transferee of actionable claim,’ ‘warranty of solvency of the debtor,’ ‘mortgaged debt.,’ etc.
  

This transference of property acts/ chapters defines the complete trajectory of the execution of successful exchange between the property owner and the transferee.

Conclusion

Property laws in Pakistan are often neglected when it comes to abidance. Though after reading the complete content, one can be sure that such laws guide one’s rights more than one could imagine. Once having the knowledge and implementation of a country’s laws happens simultaneously by compatriots, the potential of reaping more benefits from them also increases, as most people aren’t aware of such specialties. 

For many people, understanding such laws can be intimidating; for them, the suggestion is to hire a competent agent or an agency to help them out in organizing property regulations more comfortably.