Original Document Must for Property Registration, Says TN Minister

amil Nadu’s Minister for Commercial Taxes and Registration, P. Moorthy, has clarified that original parent documents are mandatory for property registration in the state, citing a rise in fraudulent attempts using fake photocopies.

Responding to concerns raised by AIADMK MLA S. Sundararajan (Sankari) during the Assembly session on Wednesday, Moorthy stressed the need to prevent misuse of photocopied documents in land registrations. Sundararajan highlighted difficulties faced by property owners when the original parent documents were missing and referenced a related court ruling.

Moorthy responded that if the original document is lost, the applicant must first secure a “non-traceable certificate” from the police. He emphasized that this is a safeguard against forgery and illegal registrations. “There have been attempts to use forged photocopies as original documents. Hence, insisting on the original is essential,” he said.

The Minister made the statement while debating the demand for grants from the Commercial Taxes and Registration Department for the year 2025–26. He also tabled the performance figures of the department, which said that ₹21,968.24 crore was received as revenue through the registration of 33.59 lakh documents in 2024–25.

This is a consistent growth of registration-based revenue year on year. The department had received ₹18,825.32 crore in 2023–24, ₹17,296.84 crore in 2022–23, and ₹13,913.65 crore in 2021–22.

The Minister’s statement corroborates the government’s move to further strengthen document verification processes amid rising instances of property fraud in the state.