The Gazetteers Department

Functions:—The main functions of the Registration Department are registration of documents under the Indian Registration Act, (XIV of 1908); registration of births and deaths under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act (VI of 1886); and registration of marriages under the Bombay Registration of Marriages Act (V of 1954), the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act (III of 1936) and the Special Marriages Act (XLIII of 1954).

Organisation:— The Inspector General of Registration is the head of the department and he supervises the registration work in the district. The Collector of the district functions as ex-officio District Registrar. Under the District Registrar there are Sub-Registrars. In 1968 there were three Sub-Registrars one each for Bhandara, Gondia and Sakoli talukas.

The Sub-Registrars are assisted by the necessary staff. The appointments of the Sub-Registrars are made by the Inspector General of Registration while those of the staff subordinate to him are made by the District Registrar.

The District Registrar carries out the instructions of the Inspector General of Registration in all departmental matters, and if he has any suggestions to make for the improvement of the registration system, they are to be submitted to the Inspector General of Registration. The Sub-Registrar seeks the guidance of the District Registrar in matters of the day to day administration. The District Registrar visits the sub-treasury offices in his district at least once in every two years and sends his memorandum of inspection to the Inspector General of Registration. The Sub-Registrar, Bhandara, visits Tumsar Treasury once in every week. The District Registrar hears appeals and applications referred to him under Sections 72 and 73 of the Indian Registration Act (XVI of 1908) against refusals to register documents by the Sub-Registrars under him. Under Sections 25 and 34 of the 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 that the documents concerned be registered on payment of a fine not exceeding ten times the proper registration fee. He is also competent to order refunds in the case of surcharges and grant full or partial remission of safe custody fees in suitable cases. A will or codicil may be deposited with him under a sealed cover, and it may be got registered at the cost of the party desiring it after the depositor's death.

The Senior Sub-Registrars are appointed as Inspectors of Registration. They inspect the work of all sub-registry offices in their charge.

Under the Indian Registration Act (XIV of 1908), compulsory registration is required in the case of certain documents and optional registration is provided for certain other documents. Documents which fulfil the prescribed requirements and for which the required stamp duty and registration fees are paid are registered. A record of such preserved documents is kept and extract of documents affecting immoveable property in respect of which Record of Rights is maintained are sent to the offices concerned for making mutations. Certified copies from the preserved records of registered documents are also issued to parties who apply for them. Till 1968, 28,303 documents, coming under optional and compulsory registration were registered, the aggregate value of which was Rs. 3,00,659.

Fees are levied for registration according to the prescribed scale, but the State Government has exempted the levy of registration fees in respect of documents pertaining to the cooperative societies registered under the Co-operative Societies Act.

Photo Copying System:—The photo-copying system was extended to this district from January 16, 1964. The documents submitted in the Sub-Registrars' Offices at Bhandara, Gondia and Sakoli are sent to the Government Photo Registry Office, Pune for photo copying. In 1968 the income derived from the photo copying system amounted to Rs. 86,887.

Bombay Registration of Marriages Act 1954:— The Bombay Registration of Marriages Act 1954 (V of 1954) was made applicable to the district from April 1, 1964. Under this Act 18 marriages were registered in 1968. Under the Special Marriages Act, only one marriage was registered in the district in the year 1968.

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