A power of attorney is a legitimate instrument. It lets a landowner who is abroad, elderly or otherwise unable to attend appoint someone to execute documents on their behalf. Used properly, it closes transactions that would otherwise stall.
It is also the vehicle for one of the most persistent bad practices in Indian property: the GPA sale, where land is effectively transferred by handing over a general power of attorney plus an agreement to sell and a will, without ever executing a registered conveyance.
Knowing which of these you are looking at is the whole skill.
What the Supreme Court settled
In Suraj Lamp & Industries v. State of Haryana (2011), the Supreme Court addressed the SA/GPA/Will practice directly and held that these transactions do not convey title. A sale of immovable property requires a registered deed of conveyance. A power of attorney is an agency document -- it authorises an agent to act, it does not transfer ownership to the agent.
The Court noted the practice was driven largely by avoidance of stamp duty and by attempts to get around land ceiling and development restrictions, and it declined to recognise it as a mode of transfer.
The consequence for a buyer is blunt: if the seller's own claim to the land rests on a GPA rather than a registered conveyance, they may not own what they are selling. This is a defect in the chain, and it sits alongside the other gaps covered in tracing the chain of title.
The judgment did not invalidate genuine powers of attorney used for their proper purpose. It drew the line between agency and conveyance.
The legitimate use, and how to verify it
Where the registered owner grants a PoA authorising a named agent to execute a sale deed on their behalf, and a proper registered sale deed is then executed by that agent in the owner's name, title passes normally. That is a valid transaction.
Before you accept one, verify five things.
It is registered. A power of attorney authorising the sale of immovable property should itself be registered. An unregistered or merely notarised PoA offered as authority to sell is not adequate.
It is specific. Read the powers granted. A PoA that authorises management of the property, collection of rent, or representation before authorities does not authorise a sale. The power to sell must be expressly conferred, and the property must be identified by survey number and extent. A general power drafted in broad terms is weaker than a special power naming the parcel.
The principal is alive. A power of attorney terminates on the death of the principal. A deed executed under a PoA after the principal has died is void, and the agent will not always volunteer the information. Insist on recent contact with the principal -- a video call is reasonable and routine now -- and check the date of the PoA against the date of execution.
It has not been revoked. A principal can revoke at any time. Ask for a declaration from the agent that the PoA subsists and has not been revoked, and where the stakes justify it, have a lawyer check for a registered deed of revocation.
It was executed properly if the principal was abroad. A PoA executed outside India needs to be notarised or attested at an Indian mission, and then adjudicated and stamped in India within the prescribed period after receipt. This is exactly the situation many NRI sellers are in -- see what FEMA permits NRIs to do with agricultural land and inheritance and OCI holdings.
Red flags
"The GPA holder will sell it to you directly." The seller's own title is the GPA. Walk away or require the registered owner to execute the conveyance.
A PoA granted to the buyer of a previous transaction. A strong indicator you are looking at a GPA sale several links back, and the defect follows the land.
A very old PoA. Every year between execution and use increases the chance the principal has died or revoked it.
An agent who resists contact with the principal. There is no good reason for this.
A PoA plus an agreement to sell plus a will, as a package. This is the Suraj Lamp pattern by name. Treat it as a transaction that has not happened.
A PoA used to bypass an eligibility restriction. Where a purchaser is ineligible to own agricultural land, a PoA arrangement is sometimes used to hold land beneficially. This does not cure the ineligibility and it creates a title you cannot cleanly sell. In Karnataka, the 2020 amendment removed the main reason people did this.
What to do if a PoA is in the chain
Do not automatically abandon the deal. Establish, for each PoA in the chain: whether it was registered, whether it expressly authorised sale, whether the principal was alive at execution, and whether a proper registered conveyance followed it.
Where a conveyance followed a valid PoA, the link is sound. Where the PoA was the transfer, the link is broken and needs curing -- usually by having the original owner or their heirs execute a confirmation deed. That is a negotiation, and it is the seller's problem to solve before completion, not yours to absorb afterwards.
Related reading
Run the standard sequence: the RTC, the Encumbrance Certificate, chain of title, then stamp duty and registration and mutation.
Overview: understanding land titles and documentation in India.
Browse verified listings: farmland near Hubli or agricultural land around Salem.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Land laws and eligibility rules vary by Indian state and change over time -- verify current requirements with a local property lawyer before making any purchase decision.
Written by
Agriva Editorial
The Agriva Editorial team writes practical, field-tested guides for buyers, sellers, and brokers navigating India's farmland and niche real estate market.