NRI Property Check: Hyderabad Property and Family Transfers

Musab Hashmi & Associates, Advocates, Hyderabad · Adv. Syed Musab Rahim Hashmi, Bar Council of Telangana, TS/62/2019 · Updated 8 November 2026

This page is for Indians living abroad who own a flat, house, plot or agricultural land in Hyderabad or elsewhere in Telangana, or who share in a family property there, and who are worried that a relative may try to have it registered in another name. The check above gives a list of records to look at and steps to consider. The guide below explains those records, the powers of attorney that many of these situations turn on, and what the law provides if a deed has already been registered.

Warning signs · Records to check from abroad · Powers of attorney · If a deed has been registered · If a relative is in possession · Family and inherited property · Caveats · Acting from abroad

Warning signs

Requests for papers: a relative asks for your original title documents, signed blank papers, copies of your identity documents, or a new power of attorney “only to manage” the property.
An old power of attorney: a power of attorney you signed years ago, for a purpose that is now over, is still with a relative or someone else.
Records in another name: the property tax record, utility bills or the agricultural land record now show a different name.
A changed story: a relative says the property was gifted, promised or settled on them, or that you have no share in it.
Unexpected papers: a notice or summons from a court, the police or a government office that you did not expect.

None of these proves a fraud. Each is a reason to check the registered record now rather than later, because some of the time limits described below run from when you come to know of a registration.

Records to check from abroad

Encumbrance certificate (EC): the Telangana Registration and Stamps Department describes an encumbrance certificate as “a record showing registered transactions pertaining to a property”. It is available online through the official Telangana Encumbrance Search (EC) service, as well as at MeeSeva centres and the Sub-Registrar’s office. The department states that unregistered transactions are not included and that an EC “cannot be taken as a sole criterion” to buy a property or lend money. Ask for the whole period from when you acquired the property to today.
Certified copies: the department’s FAQ says any person may obtain a certified copy of a registered document relating to immovable property, but a copy of a registered GPA only by the executant, the claimant, or their agent or representative, and a copy of a registered will only by the testator during the testator’s lifetime; after the testator’s death, any person may get a copy on production of the death certificate. If the EC shows a deed you do not recognise, a certified copy shows who signed it, in what capacity (for example, as your attorney) and when.
Municipal records: under G.O.Ms.No.155 of 30 May 2016, Sub-Registrars share transaction details with urban local bodies “to automatically initiate mutation at the time of transfer of immovable property”, and GHMC’s procedure note says that, from 1 June 2016, mutation is initiated suo moto by the Deputy Commissioner concerned based on the information received online from the Registration Department. A registered deed, even a forged one, can therefore change the GHMC record without the owner applying. Check whose name the property tax record now shows.
Agricultural land: Telangana’s agricultural land records are kept on Bhu Bharati, which replaced Dharani in April 2025. Under the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025, the Tahsildar amends the Record of Rights immediately after a registered transfer (section 5). The Bhu Bharati FAQ says NRIs can register on an NRI portal and apply for a passbook; that concerns NRIs who already own land, for example by inheritance. Check the name, extent and classification shown for each survey number.
Your own papers: keep your registered title deed, the earlier link documents, tax receipts and utility bills somewhere a relative cannot reach, and keep scanned copies with you.

See our guides on the encumbrance certificate and on agricultural land and Bhu Bharati.

Powers of attorney

The Registration Department warns buyers: “There are several cases of forged power of attorneys including fabricated powers as if given by NRI principals.” It also says that “Impersonation cases be checked if proper enquiry is done about Vendor/Transferor”.

What a power of attorney is: the Powers-of-Attorney Act, 1882 says it “includes any instrument empowering a specified person to act for and in the name of the person executing it” (section 1A).
It is not a transfer, but it can be used to make one: in Suraj Lamp and Industries v State of Haryana (2011) the Supreme Court said “A power of attorney is not an instrument of transfer in regard to any right, title or interest in an immovable property”, and that “Even an irrevocable attorney does not have the effect of transferring title to the grantee”. The same paragraph says an attorney holder “may however execute a deed of conveyance in exercise of the power granted under the power of attorney and convey title on behalf of the grantor”. A power that includes selling the property therefore lets the holder sign a sale deed in your name.
General and special powers: the department’s FAQ explains that a general power of attorney is executed “to act on behalf of him generally” and may cover management of property, court matters, and the sale or mortgage of property, while a special power of attorney “is executed to do a particular act or for a particular purpose”.
Cancelling a power of attorney: the department’s FAQ says: “GPA automatically gets cancelled on the death of Executant. Principal (Executant) may cancel it at any time.” Under section 201 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872, an agency ends when the principal revokes the authority. The principal may revoke it at any time before the authority has been exercised so as to bind the principal (section 203), but not as regards acts and obligations arising from acts already done under it (section 204). The exception is in section 202: where the agent has an interest of their own in the property that is the subject of the agency, the agency cannot, in the absence of an express contract, be ended to the prejudice of that interest. The FAQ puts it this way: a power of attorney “executed for consideration in respect of property” cannot be unilaterally revoked to the prejudice of the agent’s interest.
Telling people that it is cancelled: under section 208 of the Contract Act, the end of an agent’s authority does not take effect as regards the agent “before it becomes known to him”, or as regards third persons “before it becomes known to them”. So put the cancellation in writing, deliver it to the attorney holder, tell anyone you know is likely to deal with them, and keep proof of delivery.
A registered power of attorney: if the power of attorney was registered, the firm’s advice is to cancel it at the Sub-Registrar’s office by registering a cancellation deed. Under Rule 236 of the Telangana Registration Rules, when a deed cancelling a deed registered under the department’s computer system is registered, entries are posted against the record of the original deed and a foot-note is added so that it is printed whenever the original document is printed; for a deed registered under the earlier manual system, a foot-note is made on the copy of the original in the register volume.

See our guide on GPA, agreement of sale and notary documents.

If a deed has already been registered

The Sub-Registrar cannot cancel it: in Satya Pal Anand v State of M.P. (2016) the Supreme Court said: “Once the document is registered, it is not open to any Authority, under the Act of 1908 to cancel the registration”, and that the aggrieved party “can challenge the registration and validity of the document before the Civil Court”. Under Rule 26(i)(k) of the Telangana Registration Rules, a cancellation deed of a registered sale deed needs both the executing and the claiming parties, unless it is executed under the orders of a competent court or under Rule 243, which concerns section 22-A properties such as Government land.
The civil suit: a person against whom a written instrument is void or voidable, and who reasonably apprehends serious injury from it, may sue to have it adjudged void or voidable; the court may, in its discretion, order it cancelled and sends a copy of its decree to the registering office (Specific Relief Act, 1963, section 31). In Suhrid Singh v Randhir Singh (2010) the Supreme Court said that a person who did not sign the deed seeks a declaration that it is invalid or not binding on him. Under section 34, a person who can ask for further relief, such as possession, must do so.
The burden of proof: in Prem Singh v Birbal (2006) the Supreme Court said: “There is a presumption that a registered document is validly executed”, and the onus is on the person who leads evidence to rebut it.
Time limits: under the Limitation Act, 1963, a suit to declare the forgery of a registered instrument has three years from when the registration becomes known to the plaintiff (Article 56), a suit for any other declaration has three years from when the right to sue first accrues (Article 58), and a suit to cancel an instrument has three years from when the facts entitling cancellation first become known (Article 59). Where a suit is based on the defendant’s fraud, the period “shall not begin to run until the plaintiff or applicant has discovered the fraud or the mistake or could, with reasonable diligence, have discovered it” (section 17(1)). This does not enable a suit to set aside a transaction where property has been bought for value by a person who was not a party to the fraud and did not know or have reason to believe that any fraud had been committed (section 17, proviso). In Prem Singh v Birbal the Supreme Court said that the Limitation Act still applies even where a transaction is void. Write down the date and the way you came to know of the deed.
The criminal law: depending on the facts, the offences that may apply include forgery (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, section 336), forgery of a power of attorney or an Aadhaar card (section 337), using a forged document as genuine (section 340), cheating (section 318), cheating by personation (section 319), criminal conspiracy (section 61), and false personation or false statements before a registering officer (Registration Act, section 82).
The police: information of a cognizable offence may be given to the officer in charge of any police station “irrespective of the area where the offence is committed” (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, section 173(1)). If the police do not register it, the informant may send the substance in writing by post to the Superintendent of Police and then apply to the Magistrate (section 173(4)). The Hyderabad City Police land-disputes procedure of 7 March 2022 says that “the Police shall not involve in matters of possession of immovable property on their own accord”.
Agricultural land records: a person affected by an entry in the Record of Rights may apply for rectification within the prescribed period (Bhu Bharati Act, section 4(5)), and a person aggrieved as to a right of which he is in possession may sue for a declaration, after which the record is to be amended (section 18).

Our guide on a forged or fraudulent sale deed covers these steps in more detail.

If a relative is in possession

Possession and title are different questions: a suit for possession of immovable property based on title has twelve years from when the other person’s possession becomes adverse to the owner (Limitation Act, Article 65). Whether possession is adverse depends on the facts.
Why this matters when you live abroad: in Ravinder Kaur Grewal v Manjit Kaur (2019) a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court held that once twelve years of adverse possession are complete, even the owner’s right to eject the person in possession is lost.
Permission and co-ownership matter: in the same judgment, the Court said that adverse possession “requires all the three classic requirements to coexist at the same time”, which it named nec vi, nec clam and nec precario, describing the third as possession “adverse to a competitor, in denial of title and his knowledge”. Read literally, nec precario means not by permission. The Court also said that possession by a joint possessor or co-owner is not presumed to be adverse.
Keep the paper trail: keep records that show the property is yours and how the relative came to occupy it, for example letters or messages showing that they live there with your permission, together with your title papers and tax payments.

See our guide on illegal possession and encroachment.

Family and inherited property

A parent’s property that has not been divided: where all the co-owners agree, they can divide the property by a written partition deed, and the Registration Department’s FAQ says that if partition is effected through an instrument, it “must be compulsorily registered”; where they do not agree, a co-owner can file a suit for partition and separate possession. For joint family property, a person who has been excluded and sues for their share has twelve years from when the exclusion becomes known to them (Limitation Act, Article 110).
Legal heir certificates: a legal heir certificate is issued by the revenue authorities and records the surviving family members. Where heirs live abroad, the local enquiry can take longer. If a relative has applied for one, find out what was filed and whether every heir is named.
Inherited agricultural land: under the Bhu Bharati Act, mutation on inheritance is applied for online to the Tahsildar, with a joint statement by the legal heirs in intestate succession (section 7).
NRIs can inherit: RBI’s Master Direction under FEMA says “An NRI or an OCI can acquire any immovable property in India by way of inheritance from a person resident in India”.
Where a parent is alive: whether anyone other than the owner has a present interest in a property depends on the nature of the property and the law of succession that applies. Take advice on the actual documents.

See our guides on partition of family property and the legal heir certificate.

Caveats

A caveat is a notice lodged in a court. Under section 148A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, where an application “is expected to be made, or has been made, in a suit or proceeding instituted, or about to be instituted, in a Court”, a person claiming a right to appear before the Court on the hearing of that application may lodge a caveat. The caveator serves notice of it by registered post, acknowledgement due, on the person expected to apply, and the Court then serves notice of any such application on the caveator. A caveat does not remain in force after ninety days from lodging unless the application has been made within that time (section 148A(5)).

Section 148A speaks only of applications in a court. It is not a notice to the Sub-Registrar, and nothing in it provides for stopping a registration.

Acting from abroad

A power of attorney for registration: under section 32 of the Registration Act, 1908, a document may be presented for registration by an agent authorised by a power of attorney executed and authenticated as section 33 requires. Where the principal does not reside in India, section 33(1)(c) recognises a power of attorney “executed before and authenticated by Notary Public, or any Court, Judge, Magistrate, Indian Consul or Vice-Consul, or representative of the Central Government”.
Stamping it when it arrives: the department’s FAQ says a general power of attorney executed by a person residing out of India and attested by embassy, consulate or notary officers in that country need not be registered, but stamp duty “as per Article 42 shall be paid within 3 months from the date of receipt of the power of attorney in India if it is not already stamped”. Section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as in force in Telangana allows an instrument executed only out of India to be stamped within three months after it is first received in India.
Documents signed abroad: the department’s FAQ says that if a document is executed out of India, the four months for presenting it for registration are counted from the date of its first receipt in India. Under section 26 of the Registration Act, the registering officer may accept such a document if satisfied that it was executed out of India and presented within four months after its arrival in India.
In a civil case: the Code of Civil Procedure recognises as agents of a party “persons holding powers-of-attorney, authorizing them to make and do such appearances, applications and acts on behalf of such parties” (Order III, rule 2(a)), and process served on a recognised agent is as effectual as if served on the party, unless the court otherwise directs (rule 3). Under the proviso to rule 1, an appearance shall be made by the party in person if the court so directs.
Giving information to the police: under section 173(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, information may be given “orally or by electronic communication”, and information given by electronic communication “shall be taken on record by him on being signed within three days by the person giving it”. The section does not say how that signature is to be given from abroad, so ask the police station how it is to be given. In the firm’s experience, the police may accept a complaint by email, and it helps if a person in Hyderabad visits the police station to explain the matter.
Keep any new power narrow: before signing a new power of attorney, decide whether the person needs a power to sell at all, or only to manage, pay taxes or appear for you in a particular matter.

Frequently asked questions

Can a relative sell my property using a power of attorney I gave years ago?

A power of attorney does not itself transfer the property, but the Supreme Court said in Suraj Lamp (2011) that an attorney holder may execute a deed of conveyance in exercise of the power granted and convey title on behalf of the person who gave it. Whether a particular power covers a sale depends on its terms. The authority ends when you revoke it (Indian Contract Act, section 201), but it cannot be revoked as regards acts already done under it (sections 203 and 204); where the agent has an interest of their own in the property, the agency cannot, in the absence of an express contract, be ended to the prejudice of that interest (section 202); and the cancellation takes effect for third persons only when it becomes known to them (section 208).

How do I cancel a power of attorney while living abroad?

The Telangana Registration Department’s FAQ says the principal may cancel a GPA at any time, except that a power executed for consideration in respect of property cannot be unilaterally revoked to the prejudice of the agent’s interest. Because a cancellation takes effect for the agent and for third persons only when it becomes known to them (Indian Contract Act, section 208), put it in writing, deliver it to the attorney holder and anyone likely to deal with them, and keep proof of delivery. Under sections 203 and 204 of the Contract Act, a cancellation does not undo acts already done under the power. If the power of attorney was registered, the firm’s advice is to cancel it at the Sub-Registrar’s office by registering a cancellation deed.

How do I give a power of attorney from abroad for a property in Telangana?

For registration purposes, section 33(1)(c) of the Registration Act, 1908 recognises a power of attorney given by a person who does not reside in India if it is executed before and authenticated by a Notary Public, or any Court, Judge, Magistrate, Indian Consul or Vice-Consul, or representative of the Central Government. The Registration Department’s FAQ says a general power of attorney executed by a person residing out of India and attested by embassy, consulate or notary officers in that country need not be registered, but stamp duty under Article 42 must be paid within three months of its receipt in India if it is not already stamped.

Can the Sub-Registrar cancel a deed my relative registered?

In Satya Pal Anand v State of M.P. (2016) the Supreme Court said that once a document is registered, no authority under the Registration Act, 1908 can cancel the registration, and that the aggrieved party can challenge it before the civil court. Under Rule 26(i)(k) of the Telangana Registration Rules, a cancellation deed of a registered sale deed needs both parties unless it is executed under a competent court’s orders or under Rule 243, which concerns section 22-A properties.

How long do I have to challenge a deed registered without my consent?

Under the Limitation Act, 1963, several articles may apply, each three years unless stated otherwise: a suit to declare the forgery of a registered instrument runs from when the registration becomes known to you (Article 56), a suit for any other declaration from when the right to sue first accrues (Article 58), and a suit to cancel an instrument from when the facts entitling cancellation first become known (Article 59). A suit for possession based on title has twelve years from when the other person’s possession becomes adverse (Article 65). Which applies, and from when, depends on the facts, so take advice early.

Will a caveat stop a relative from registering my property?

A caveat under section 148A of the Code of Civil Procedure concerns applications made or expected in a suit or proceeding in a court, so that the court gives the caveator notice of them. The section speaks only of a court; it is not a notice to the Sub-Registrar. A caveat lapses after ninety days unless the application is made within that time.

Can information about a forged deed be given to the police electronically?

Section 173(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita allows information of a cognizable offence to be given orally or by electronic communication to the officer in charge of a police station, irrespective of where the offence was committed. The BNSS First Schedule classifies forgery and related offences differently as cognizable or non-cognizable, so whether this applies depends on the offence. Information given electronically is taken on record once it is signed within three days by the person giving it; the section does not say how that signature is to be given from abroad, so ask the police station first. In the firm’s experience, the police may accept a complaint by email, and it helps if a person in Hyderabad visits the police station to explain the matter. The Hyderabad City Police procedure of 7 March 2022 says police shall not involve themselves in matters of possession of immovable property on their own accord.

Is the NRI property check legal advice?

No. It produces a list of records to check and steps to consider, from your own answers, in your browser. It does not search government records and gives no opinion on any property. Have the actual documents examined before you act on them.

To discuss your property with Musab Hashmi & Associates, use the enquiry form on this page or call +91 89771 24916. The firm holds first consultations with NRIs by phone or video call. Do not include identity numbers or copies of documents in the first message; documents can be shared after the first consultation.

General legal information, not legal advice. Checked on 8 November 2026 against the Registration Act, 1908 as in force in Telangana on 2 June 2014 and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as in force in Telangana (Registration and Stamps Department texts), the Telangana Registration Rules (Rule 236), the Registration and Stamps Department’s FAQ and buyer advisory, the Supreme Court’s judgment in Ravinder Kaur Grewal v Manjit Kaur (2019), the Indian Contract Act, 1872, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Other statements are taken from the firm’s guides on forged sale deeds (checked 28 October 2026), GPA and agreements of sale (27 October 2026), illegal possession (27 October 2026), partition (26 October 2026) and agricultural land (29 October 2026), which list their sources, and from the firm’s legal heir certificate and encumbrance certificate guides. Those sources include G.O.Ms.No.155 of 30 May 2016 and GHMC’s mutation procedure note, the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 and the Bhu Bharati FAQ, and RBI’s Master Direction under FEMA.

NRI Property Check: Protecting Your Hyderabad Property from Family Transfers