Three documents, one question: which of them actually makes you the owner? The 2026 guide to what a registered sale deed does, what an agreement to sell does not, and why the Supreme Court shut the door on GPA “sales” in Delhi.
Only a registered sale deed transfers ownership of property in Delhi. An agreement to sell is merely a promise of a future sale — it fixes the price and terms but creates no ownership by itself. A GPA (general power of attorney) only authorises someone to act on the owner’s behalf; it is not a sale document at all. In its landmark Suraj Lamp ruling (2011), the Supreme Court held that GPA-cum-agreement-cum-will “sales” do not convey title. Consequently, a clean Delhi purchase always ends in a stamped, registered sale deed — everything else is paperwork on the way there.
Every week someone offers us a “GPA property” in Delhi at a tempting discount, and every week we give the same answer: the discount exists because the title does not. This confusion — sale deed vs agreement to sell vs GPA — costs Delhi buyers more money than any other legal mistake we see. Therefore, this guide walks through what each document legally does, what the Supreme Court actually decided, and the exact document chain we insist on before a rupee moves in a South Delhi deal.
Before the table, one principle from Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act: a sale of immovable property worth ₹100 or more can be made only by a registered instrument. The section adds, in plain words, that an agreement for the sale of property “does not, of itself, create any interest in or charge on such property.” Everything below flows from that.
| Question | Registered Sale Deed | Agreement to Sell (ATS) | GPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Does it transfer ownership? | Yes — the only document that does | No — only a promise to sell later | No — only an authority to act |
| Registration | Compulsory (Sec 17, Registration Act) | Registrable; often executed on stamp paper first | POAs relating to property in Delhi are registered before the sub-registrar |
| Stamp duty | Full duty — see our Delhi stamp duty guide | Nominal, unless coupled with possession | Nominal for genuine POAs |
| Can a bank lend against it? | Yes | No — loan disburses only at sale deed | No — lenders refuse GPA titles outright |
| What happens if the seller dies? | Nothing — you already own it | Enforceable against legal heirs, but through courts | The GPA lapses. Your “purchase” dies with the executant |
| Legitimate use | Completing every sale | Locking price and terms before the registry | Letting an NRI’s relative sign at the registry for them |
Read the fourth and fifth rows twice. A GPA is revocable by the executant and it lapses on the executant’s death — which means a “GPA owner” holds property on a document that can vanish. That, and not stamp-duty savings, is why Suraj Lamp shut the practice down.
In Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana (2011), the Supreme Court examined the widespread practice — nowhere more common than Delhi — of “selling” property through a package of GPA, agreement to sell and will, executed to dodge stamp duty and transfer restrictions. The Court held that such transactions are not conveyances and transfer no title. Furthermore, it clarified that municipal mutation based on these documents does not create ownership either; as our mutation guide explains, mutation is a tax record, never a title document.
Two nuances matter, because sellers of GPA stock quote them selectively. First, the Court protected genuine powers of attorney — a father authorising a son, an NRI authorising a sibling to appear at the registry — which remain perfectly valid as instruments of agency, not ownership. Secondly, transactions completed before the judgment were left to be dealt with under regularisation policies. Neither nuance converts a GPA into a title deed today.
If a Delhi property is offered on “GPA basis” in 2026, the discount is the market pricing the defect. You cannot get a home loan on it, you cannot pass clean title to your buyer, and the paper trail can be revoked or can lapse. In regularised colonies where old GPA chains exist, the honest route is getting the recorded owner to execute a fresh registered sale deed — through conversion to freehold first where the plot is leasehold, as covered in our freehold vs leasehold guide.
None of this makes the agreement to sell a villain — it is the workhorse of every honest transaction. In a typical South Delhi purchase, the ATS is signed with a token or earnest payment, fixes the price, the payment schedule, the handover date and the consequences of default, and gives both sides the time to complete due diligence from our 21-point buying checklist. If the buyer has been put into possession under a written ATS, Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act even shields that possession. However — and this is the whole point — the ATS remains a contract about a future transfer. Ownership moves only when the parties appear before the sub-registrar and complete the Delhi registration process on the sale deed.
Price, schedule, and terms locked in writing; earnest money changes hands against receipts. Due diligence window opens.
Chain of prior sale deeds, freehold status, no-dues and permissions checked — the checklist stage.
E-stamp for the full duty, TDS deducted by the buyer where the price is ₹50 lakh or more, biometrics and witnesses before the sub-registrar. Title passes here, and only here.
The municipal record catches up with the registry — automatic for most deeds registered since 2019, as detailed in our mutation guide.
An agreement promises. A GPA authorises. Only the registered sale deed owns.
No. After Suraj Lamp (2011), a GPA does not transfer ownership, banks will not finance the purchase, and the GPA can be revoked or lapse on the executant’s death. The only safe route is a fresh registered sale deed from the person actually recorded as owner.
No. It is a binding contract to transfer in future — enforceable through specific performance if the seller backs out — but Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act is explicit that it creates no interest in the property by itself.
Yes. Under Section 17 of the Registration Act, a sale deed for immovable property must be registered; an unregistered deed does not pass title. Delhi’s process runs through e-stamping and the sub-registrar, covered step by step in our registration guide.
The sale deed carries the full Delhi conveyance duty; a plain agreement to sell and a genuine POA carry nominal stamps. That gap is precisely why GPA “sales” flourished — and why the courts and revenue authorities closed them down.
Yes — as agency, not as title. An NRI can execute a specific POA authorising a relative to sign and register the deed on their behalf; the sale itself still completes through a registered sale deed. Our NRI guide covers the attestation mechanics.
It lapses. Agency ends with the principal’s death, which means a “GPA holder” is left holding possession with no living authority behind their document — the single biggest structural risk of GPA stock.
Trace the recorded owner or their legal heirs and negotiate a fresh registered sale deed — converting the plot to freehold first if it is leasehold. Until that happens, treat the holding as possession with a claim, not ownership, and take proper legal advice.
No. Mutation is a fiscal record for property tax; Suraj Lamp itself noted that mutation entries do not confer title. Ownership rests on the registered deed chain.
Yes, in two ways: the buyer in possession under a written contract gets the shield of Section 53A of the TPA, and stamp law can treat an ATS with possession like a conveyance for duty. It still is not a transfer of title — the deed must follow.
A written agreement to sell (or at minimum a receipt referencing the agreed terms), never against a promise to execute a GPA. Every rupee should trace to a document that leads to a registered sale deed.
Send us the documents you’ve been offered — deed chain, ATS, or that “GPA basis” listing — and we’ll tell you honestly what stands behind the title. Clean deals only.
This guide summarises the Transfer of Property Act 1882, the Registration Act 1908 and the Supreme Court’s decision in Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana (2011) as generally applied in Delhi as of July 2026. Registration procedure and duty rates are on the Delhi revenue department’s DORIS portal at doris.delhigovt.nic.in. This is general information, not legal advice; have every transaction vetted by a qualified property lawyer.
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