The Gazetteers Department

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

Organisation.

The department is headed by the Inspector-General of Registra- tion who is assisted by a District Registrar for each district who supervises the registration work in the district. The Collector of the district functions as an ex-officio District Registrar. Under the District Registrar there are Sub-Registrars. In 1962, there were eight Sub-Registrars in the district with their headquarters at Sangli, Miraj, Tasgaon, Walva-Islampur, Khanapur-Vita, Jath, Ashta and Shirala.

The appointments of the ministerial and other necessary staff at the Sub-Registry Offices are made by the District Registrar. The Sub-Registrars are appointed by the Inspector-General of Registration.

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 payment of a fine not exceeding ten times the proper registration fee. He is also competent to order refunds in cases of surcharges and to grant full or partial remission of 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, after the death of the depositor.

Senior Sub-Registrars are appointed as Inspectors of Registration. Their work is to inspect the work of all the Sub-Registry offices in their charge. The Sangli district falls under the jurisdiction of the Inspector of Registration, Kolhapur Division.

Registration of documents.

Under the Indian Registration Act (XVI of 1908) compulsory registration is required in the case of certain documents and optional 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 Records-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.

In all 15.383 documents were registered in the district during 1962. Of these, 14,902 documents falling under compulsory registration were of the aggregate value of Rs. 1,83,42,057, documents falling under optional registration were 212 and their aggregate value was Rs. 7,43,521, documents relating to moveable property were 151 and 118 were wills.

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 co-operative societies enjoy unrestricted exemption [ For details please see Government Notification, Co-operation and Rural Development Department, No. CAS. 1061 /27508-J, dated 16th August 1961.].

Photo copying system.

Out of the eight Sub-Registry Offices in the district, photo copying system has been extended to four offices at Sangli, Miraj. Tasgaon, and Walva-Islampur. In these offices documents presented for registration are copied by means of photography. For this purpose the documents are sent to the Government Photo Registry Office, Poona, where the documents are photographed under the micro-filming process and returned to the Sub-Registrar concerned with a photo stat copy thereof. The film negatives are preserved in the Government Photo Registry Office, Poona. In the remaining four offices in the district, the documents are copied by hand.

Registration of marriages.

All Sub-Registrars in the district are appointed as Registrars of Marriages under the Bombay Registration of Marriages Act, 1954, as well as under the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936. Under the Bombay Registration of Marriages Act, 432 memoranda of marriages were registered in 1962. No marriage memorandum under the Parsee Marriage and Divorce Act was received for registration during the same year. The Headquarters Sub-Registrar. Sangli, also functions as Marriage Officer under the Special Marriage Act. 1954. The District Registrar and the Headquarters Sub-Registrar are also Registrars of Births and Deaths under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Act, 1886.

Income and Expenditure.

During 1962 the income of the Registration department in the district was Rs. 1.75.599 and the Expenditure Rs. 50,752.

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