The Gazetteers Department

(b) registration of marriages under (i) the Bombay Registration of Marriages Act (V of 1954); (ii) the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act (III of 1936); and (iii) the Special Marriage Act (XLIII of 1954); and

Organisation: The department is headed by the Inspector-General of Registration who is assisted by a District Registrar for each district who supervises the registration work in the district. The district Collector functions as an ex-officio District Registrar. For each taluka there is a Sub-Registrar who performs the duties connected with the registration of documents. The Sub-Registrar at district head-quarters (who is designated as head-quarters Sub-Registrar) assists the Collector in his work as District Registrar. The District Registrar is vested with all the statutory powers under the Indian Registration Act.

Inspectors of Registration are appointed by the Inspector-General of Registration from amongst the senior Sub-Registrars of proved merit. Their function is to inspect Sub-Registry Offices in their divisions.

The District Registrar is required to carry out the instructions of the Inspector-General of Registration in all departmental matters. If he has any suggestions to make for the improvement of the registration system, he submits them to the Inspector-General. The District Registrar gives guidance to the Sub-Registrars in their day-to-day work. He visits the Sub-Registry Offices in his district at least once in every two years, and sends his memoranda of inspection to the Inspector-General. He hears appeals and applications referred to him under sections 72 and 73 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, against refusals to register documents by the Sub-Registrars under him. Under sections 25 and 34 of the same Act, he is empowered to condone delays in presentation of documents and appearance of executants provided the delay does not exceed four months and to direct registration of the documents concerned on payments of a fine not exceeding ten times the proper registration fees. He is also competent to order refunds in cases of surcharges and to grant full or partial remission of the safe custody fees in suitable cases. A will or a codicil can be deposited with him in a sealed cover and it can be got registered at the cost of the party desiring it, alter the death of the depositor.

Sub-Registrars are appointed by the Inspector-General of Registration. Their main function is to register documents under the Indian Registration Act. The Sub-Registrars at all taluka and district headquarters places are the Registrars of Marriages under the Bombay Registration of Marriages Act, 1954 and the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act (III of 1936). Only the Sub-Registrars at the district head-quarters are the Marriage Officers under the Special Marriage Act, 1954.

Establishment of Registration District and Sub-Districts: Ahmadnagar district is divided into fourteen registration sub-districts under the Indian Registration Act. They are located at Ahmadnagar, Akola, Jamkhed, Karjat, Kopargaon, Newasa, Parner, Pathardi, Rahata, Rahuri, Sangamner, Shevgaon, Shrigonda and Shrirampur. Each of these sub-districts has a sub-registry office manned by a Sub-Registrar and other office staff. Of these, the Sub-Registrar, Sangamner, pays periodical visits to Nimgaon-Jali and the Sub-Registrar, Jamkhed, to Kharda for the registration of documents. There is no sufficient registration work at these places to have full-fledged registration offices.

Photo copying System and Records: Photo copying system has been introduced in ten Sub-Registry Offices in the district, viz., Ahmadnagar, Akola, Kopargaon, Newasa, Parner, Pathardi, Rahuri, Sangamner, Shevgaon and Shrirampur. In these offices documents presented for registration are photographed in Government Photo Registry, Pune and are preserved as permanent record. In all the remaining four offices in the district, documents are copied by hand.

All the old records have been preserved at the Central Record Office at Ahmadnagar.

Under the Indian Registration Act (XVI of 1908) compulsory registration is provided for certain other documents. The documents which fulfil the prescribed requirements and for which the required stamp duty and the registration fees are paid are registered. A record of such registered documents is kept and extracts of documents affecting immoveable property in respect of which Record-of-Rights is maintained are sent to the officers concerned for making mutations. Certified copies from the preserved records of registered documents are also issued to the parties who apply for them.

Income and expenditure: The total number of documents (both optional and compulsory) registered during the year 1967 in the entire district was 27,871 resulting in a gross income for Rs. 4,20,416. Out of these documents, 111 were wills. The total number of documents registered during the year 1968 rose to 33,325 of which 141 were wills and the income derived from the registration fees, etc., stood at Rs. 5,94,250. Expenditure for the year 1967 stood at Rs. 1,29,491 as against Rs. 1,47,743 for the year 1968. The aggregate value of the immoveable properties transferred during the year 1967 was Rs. 4,95,74,121 and the value for the year 1968 stood at Rs. 7,04,44,366. Moveable property transferred during the year 1967 was worth Rs. 4,16,853 and Rs. 10,69,903 for the year 1968. Fees are levied for registration according to the prescribed scale, but the State Government have exempted, fully or partially, levy of registration fees in respect of documents pertaining to societies registered under the Co-operative Societies Act. Certain types of societies such as urban co-operative societies or banks and housing societies enjoy restricted exemptions in respect of documents where the consideration does not exceed the specified limit. All rural cooperative societies enjoy unrestricted exemption.

Registration of marriages: The number of marriages registered under the Bombay Act V of 1954 was 386 for the year 1967 resulting in an income of Rs. 641 by way of registration fee. The number of marriages registered under the said Act for the year 1968 was 167 and the income derived stood at Rs. 312. For the present, the Act is applicable to the district and taluka headquarters and to those places having municipalities. All efforts are made to get the marriages registered under the Act. The number of marriages registered under the Special Marriage Act, 1954, was 27 for the year 1967 as against 10 for the year 1968.

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