Buying a Plot on Power of Attorney: Why It Is Risky

If someone offers you a plot in Mathura or Vrindavan on "power of attorney" instead of a registered sale deed, the short answer is: do not pay. The gpa sale property risk is not a technicality. The Supreme Court has said three times, in 2011, 2023 and 2025, that a general power of attorney does not make the holder an owner, and a buyer who relies on one is left holding papers, not land.

What a "GPA sale" actually is

In the older colonies around Delhi, and in patches of Braj as well, a habit grew up of selling property without registering a sale deed. The buyer pays the full price. In return the seller hands over a bundle:

• an agreement to sell (sometimes called a bayana agreement locally), recording the price and saying a sale deed will follow;
• an irrevocable general power of attorney (GPA) in the buyer's name, authorising the buyer to deal with the property;
• often a will leaving the property to the buyer.

The seller says: you have possession, you have the papers, you can sell it on the same way. No stamp duty on a conveyance, no registration queue, no capital gains entry. It sounds efficient. It is exactly the arrangement the Supreme Court examined in Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana in October 2011.

What the Supreme Court held in Suraj Lamp

The court looked at why people used this route and was blunt about it. The judgment lists the motives: avoiding stamp duty and registration charges, evading capital gains tax, investing undisclosed money, sidestepping development authority fees, and, importantly for a plot buyer, sellers with imperfect title avoiding a registered conveyance because a registered deed would expose the defect. The court said such deals "enable persons with undisclosed wealth/income to invest their black money and also earn profit/income, thereby encouraging circulation of black money and corruption."

Then the holding, in the court's words: "SA/GPA/WILL transactions do not convey any title nor create any interest in an immovable property." Immovable property "can be legally and lawfully transferred/conveyed only by a registered deed of conveyance."

The reasoning rests on three settled rules:

1. Section 54 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. A sale of tangible immovable property worth one hundred rupees or more can be made only by a registered instrument, and an agreement to sell "does not, of itself, create any interest in or charge on such property."
2. A power of attorney is agency, not transfer. The holder acts for the owner. Nothing passes to the holder. Calling it "irrevocable" changes the contract between the parties; it does not change who owns the land.
3. A will is not a transfer between living people. It operates only on death, and until then can be revoked by a fresh will.

The court also protected genuine uses of a POA. An owner may give one to a spouse, son, daughter, brother, sister or relative to manage property or execute a deed. A landowner may sign a development agreement and give a builder a POA to execute sale deeds to plot buyers. Those are lawful, because in each case a registered sale deed is still executed in the end buyer's name.

Two newer judgments say the same thing

Some sellers argue that Suraj Lamp is old, or that it applied only to Delhi and Haryana. Two later decisions close that door.

In Ghanshyam v. Yogendra Rathi (2 June 2023) the buyer had an agreement to sell, a GPA, a possession memo, a receipt for the full price and a will. The court held that "power of attorney and will [cannot] be recognised as documents of title or documents conferring right in any immovable property." A will "comes into effect only after the death of the executant and not before it." What the buyer did have, because he had paid and taken possession under a written agreement, was a possessory right in part performance under Section 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, which the seller could not disturb. That is a shield against eviction by the seller. It is not ownership, and it is not something you can register, mortgage or sell cleanly.

In Ramesh Chand v. Suresh Chand (1 September 2025) the court went further on wills: even a registered will does not establish title on its own. It has to be proved under the Indian Succession Act and the Evidence Act, which means examining the attesting witnesses and explaining any suspicious circumstances. An agreement to sell gives only a contractual right to sue for specific performance; a GPA, even an irrevocable one without explicit words of transfer, "cannot pass ownership."

Why this bites harder for a plot than for a flat

A vacant plot is easy to sell twice. With a flat, a second buyer meets the first buyer's furniture. With a plot, the second buyer meets a boundary wall at most, and the seller, still the recorded owner on the khatauni, can execute a registered sale deed to someone else. Registered deed beats GPA every time. You are then in a civil suit for specific performance against a seller who has the money and a stranger who has the registry.

The other problem is silent. Mutation (dakhil kharij) at the tehsil follows registered deeds. A GPA holder is not entered as owner in the revenue record, so the UP Bhulekh khatauni continues to show the original owner. Every later check by a bank, a buyer or MVDA starts from that record. The GPA route leaves no trace you can point to.

How GPA deals appear in Braj today

Around Mathura and Govardhan the pattern usually shows up in one of four ways:

• Agricultural land in "gaj". A farmer's field is carved informally into plots and sold on agreement plus POA, because a registered sale deed of a fragment of agricultural land would raise questions about land-use change. Our guide on agricultural land versus an approved plot explains why the low price is not a bargain.
• Resale by a "GPA holder". Someone who bought on POA years ago now wants to sell. They cannot sign a sale deed as owner, so they offer to give you a fresh POA. You would be the third link in a chain that never touched the registry.
• The "we will do registry later" pitch. A token, then a POA "so you are safe", with the registry promised after some approval or family matter clears. Often it never does.
• NRI sellers abroad. Here a POA is legitimate: the owner abroad appoints a relative or advocate to sign the sale deed for them. The point is that a registered sale deed is executed in your name; the POA is just the pen the seller uses.

The last case shows the rule cleanly. A POA in a transaction is fine when it is the seller's tool to execute a registered deed in your favour. It is dangerous when it is offered to you instead of that deed.

What a registered sale deed gives you that a GPA never can

	Registered sale deed	Agreement + GPA + will
Ownership passes to you	Yes, on registration	No
Entry in tehsil khatauni via mutation	Yes	No
Can be mortgaged to a bank	Yes	Bank will refuse
Can be resold by registered deed	Yes	Only another GPA chain
Protection if seller sells again	Your deed prevails	Suit for specific performance
Survives seller's death	Unaffected	POA lapses; will can be contested

What to do instead

1. Insist on a registered sale deed at the sub-registrar's office, in your name, with the seller (or the seller's lawful attorney holder) signing. Our step-by-step registry guide walks through the day.
2. If the seller is signing through a POA, read the POA itself. It should be registered or, if executed abroad, properly attested and adjudicated in India, and it must specifically authorise sale of this property. Check that the principal is alive; a POA dies with its maker.
3. If you are asked to pay a token before the deed, get a written agreement to sell and understand exactly what it commits you to; see token money and agreement to sell.
4. Run the document checklist on the seller's own title. A seller who cannot show a registered deed in their own name cannot give you one.
5. Walk away from any offer where the "saving" is stamp duty. The duty is a fraction of the price; the land is all of it.

What this means for you

A power of attorney is a signature on someone else's behalf, never ownership. Three Supreme Court judgments, the latest in September 2025, say so in plain terms. In our own layouts every plot is transferred by registered sale deed with registry support included, and we are happy to show a completed deed and its mutation entry at the site visit. If a deal anywhere in Braj is offered to you on GPA, talk to us or to an advocate before paying a rupee.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Please confirm with your advocate or chartered accountant.