Section 91 - Inspection and Copies of Documents
Section 91 of the Registration Act, 1908 provides public access, subject to prescribed rules and fees, to specified land and revenue records exempted from registration under Section 90. It also provides for the supply of copies on application.
Text of Section 91
(1) Subject to such rules and the previous payment of such fees as the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette, prescribes in this behalf, all documents and maps mentioned in section 90, clauses (a), (b), (c), and (e), and all registers of the documents mentioned in clause (d), shall be open to the inspection of any person applying to inspect the same, and, subject as aforesaid, copies of such documents shall be given to all persons applying for such copies.
(2) Every rule prescribed under this sub-section or made under section 69 shall be laid, as soon as it is made, before the State Legislature.
Meaning and scope of Section 91
The provision concerns access to specified official documents and records, rather than compulsory registration of a private instrument. The expression inspection means examining the relevant record in the custody of the authority; a copy is a reproduction supplied under the applicable rules. Section 91 grants access to any person applying, subject to the rules and advance payment of prescribed fees.
Which records can be inspected?
Section 90(1) identifies classes of records exempt from registration. Section 91(1) expressly covers the following:
- Clause (a): documents forming part of land-revenue settlement or revision-of-settlement records.
- Clause (b): documents and maps forming part of Government land-survey records.
- Clause (c): periodic village records filed by patwaris or other responsible revenue officers.
- Clause (d): registers of Government land grants, assignments, sanads, inams and title documents; the statutory reference is to the registers of these documents.
- Clause (e): the specified notices or relinquishments described in that clause, subject to the applicable territorial law.
Procedure, fees and State rules
An applicant should identify the relevant survey, settlement, village or grant record and approach the office maintaining it. Inspection and copies are subject to rules prescribed by the State Government through notification in the Official Gazette, including payment of fees in advance. The procedure, available modes of supply and applicable fee schedule may differ according to the State and record-keeping authority.
Section 91 does not itself prescribe a single nationwide application form, fee or processing deadline. A request for a certified copy, where required for legal proceedings, should also comply with the applicable certification and evidentiary requirements.
Relationship with other provisions
Section 90 exempts specified Government-related records from registration and deems them registered for the purposes of Sections 48 and 49. Section 91 separately regulates inspection and access to copies of those records. Section 57 concerns inspection and certified copies of specified registration books and indexes. Section 69 concerns the Inspector-General's rule-making powers; Section 91(2) requires rules covered by that subsection to be laid before the State Legislature.
Legislative notes
Section 91 was renumbered as subsection (1) by Act 20 of 1983, section 2 and the Schedule. The same amendment inserted subsection (2), effective 15 March 1984. The Adaptation of Laws Order, 1950 substituted the relevant references to State Government and the notification-based prescription of rules and fees. State amendments and locally applicable rules should be checked where relevant.
Official legal resources
Consult the India Code repository for the central legislation and the relevant State Gazette or Revenue and Registration Department for current local rules, notifications and fees.