9-min read

The property rights kit: 3 things every Indian owner and buyer must know

Three rights most Indians never learn — and each one alone can cost you your home or your money. An inheritance right nobody explains properly, a GPA that can quietly transfer NOTHING, and a builder who thinks he can keep your entire booking amount. All three, with the exact court judgment behind each.

For anyone who owns property or will inherit it, anyone who's ever given or received a GPA, and anyone who's booked — or is about to book — a flat.

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One number, never sold.

2020

SC: a daughter is an equal coparcener in ancestral property

2011

SC: a GPA, Agreement-to-Sell or Will transfers ZERO title

~10%

court-endorsed forfeiture ceiling on a cancelled booking — not 100%

Why the honest version matters

Viral reels butcher rights like these — '10 years jail!', 'GPA is illegal!', 'a builder can never keep a rupee!'. Half of what circulates is wrong, and acting on the wrong version loses cases. Here's what's actually true — and the fine print nobody mentions.

Part 1 of 3 — 5 property rights every owner must know

1
A daughter is an equal coparcener — in ancestral property
The right: a daughter — married or unmarried — is an equal coparcener by birth in ancestral/HUF property, with the same share as a son, even if the father died before 9 September 2005 (Supreme Court, Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, 2020; Hindu Succession Act §6). The fine print: applies to ancestral (HUF) property only — a father can still will away his own self-acquired property to anyone. The daughter must have been alive on 9 Sept 2005. If the property was already partitioned by a registered deed or court decree before 20 Dec 2004, there's nothing left to claim. Hindu law only.
2
Parents can take back property they gifted to children
The right: if parents gifted/transferred property to a child on the condition of being cared for, and the child fails to look after them, the parents can have that transfer declared void by the Maintenance Tribunal (Maintenance & Welfare of Parents & Senior Citizens Act, 2007, §23; Supreme Court, Sudesh Chhikara 2022 and Urmila Dixit 2025). The fine print: not automatic — the parent must approach the Tribunal and prove the condition and the failure. Applies to transfers made after the Act (2007 onward). A genuine good-faith buyer may be protected.
3
A nominee is NOT the owner
The right: a nominee (bank account, flat, shares, FD) is only a trustee/custodian — the real owner is the legal heir under the will/succession law, not the nominee (Supreme Court, Shakti Yezdani 2023; Sarbati Devi; §45ZA Banking Regulation Act). The exception: life insurance is different — a 'beneficial nominee' (spouse/child/parent named since 2015) keeps the money as the owner, ahead of other heirs. Bottom line: nomination is not inheritance — make a WILL.
4
Just sitting on your land does NOT make someone the owner
The right: illegal occupation does not by itself transfer ownership. But beware the other edge — open, continuous, hostile possession for 12 years (to the owner's knowledge) can ripen into ownership via adverse possession (Limitation Act, Art. 65; Supreme Court, Ravinder Kaur Grewal 2019). The fine print: a tenant, caretaker, licensee or permissive family occupant NEVER qualifies. Against government land it's 30 years. If someone encroaches, act in time.
5
Registry gives you title — mutation is only a record
The right: a registered sale deed is what makes you the legal owner (provided the seller had clear title). Mutation (dakhil-kharij) only updates the government/revenue record and the tax bill (Transfer of Property Act §54; Supreme Court, Samiullah v. Bihar 2025; Jitendra Singh v. MP 2021). The fine print: mutation does NOT give you ownership and is not a precondition to owning — a state tried to make it one and the Supreme Court struck it down (Samiullah, 2025). Still, get the mutation done after registry.

Part 2 of 3 — The GPA/POA safety checklist

Registry gives title (Part 1, #5) — but a huge number of 'purchases' in India never reach a registered sale deed at all.

They happen on a General Power of Attorney (GPA). Here's the one fact that protects you.

The core law

A GPA, an Agreement-to-Sell, or a Will do NOT transfer ownership of immovable property. Only a registered sale deed does (Supreme Court, Suraj Lamp & Industries Pvt. Ltd. (2) v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656, decided 11 Oct 2011; Transfer of Property Act §54; Registration Act §17. Followed in Ghanshyam v. Yogendra Rathi, 2023, and reinforced May 2025.)

In practice: if you 'bought' a plot or flat only on a GPA, you are not the legal owner, no matter how long you've held it or how much you paid — and banks won't lend against it either. Roughly 40 lakh people in Delhi's ~1,731 unauthorised colonies hold property this way.

Stop — is giving or holding a GPA itself wrong? No. A genuine GPA is valid — a trusted relative or agent CAN sign a registered sale deed on your behalf, and that sale is completely legitimate. The danger is misuse: someone using an old or out-of-scope GPA to sell what they were never authorised to sell. Even then, you are not helpless — a forged or out-of-scope GPA sale is challengeable in court.

The GPA safety checklist

Give a GPA narrow in scope and time-bound — never open-ended.
Never make a GPA irrevocable ('irrevocable' GPAs are sometimes valid only where genuinely 'coupled with an interest' under §202 of the Contract Act — a narrow exception, not a default).
Once the job it was given for is done, register the revocation at the same sub-registrar's office.
Buying property? Pay only against a registered sale deed, from a seller with a clear title — a GPA is not a substitute, and a clean registration still isn't a guarantee of ownership (India runs on presumptive, not guaranteed, title — Supreme Court, K. Gopi & Mahnoor Fatima Imran v. Sub-Registrar, 7 May 2025).
If you suspect a GPA sale was forged or exceeded its scope, you can challenge it in court — don't assume it's final.

Part 3 of 3 — Your booking-cancellation refund rights

Thousands of buyers book a flat, pay a token, then cancel — and are told 'policy hai, kuch wapas nahi' (it's policy, nothing comes back). That is very often not true.

The core law

A builder cannot forfeit your entire booking amount on cancellation — only a reasonable amount can be kept, and the rest, with interest, must be returned. (Godrej Projects Development Ltd v. Anil Karlekar, 2025 INSC 143, decided 3 Feb 2025 — the Supreme Court struck down a 20% forfeiture clause as a penalty under §74 of the Contract Act, and treated ~10% of the price as the reasonable ceiling for a one-sided builder-buyer agreement; a one-sided clause of this kind is also an unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019. This builds on the Court's earlier reasonableness test in Kailash Nath Associates v. DDA, 2015.)

Three things people get wrong about this — read carefully

“Can't keep it ALL” ≠ “can't keep anything”

The ruling doesn't create a zero-forfeiture rule — it caps what a one-sided agreement can keep at what a court finds reasonable (~10% in the Godrej case). It's a court-endorsed benchmark, not a guaranteed 90%-back number for every case — the amount a builder may legitimately keep depends on the proven loss he actually suffered.

Maharashtra has its own, narrower rule — don't apply it everywhere

Cancel before a registered Agreement for Sale is executed, and MahaRERA caps forfeiture at roughly 2% of the consideration (MahaRERA Order 35/2022). This is Maharashtra-specific and pre-Agreement-only — not a national rule, and it doesn't apply once a registered Agreement for Sale exists.

If the delay is the builder's fault, forget forfeiture — you're owed a full refund

Under RERA §18, if the builder is late or the project stalls through his own fault, you're entitled to your full amount back, with interest — not a negotiated partial refund. This is a separate right from the cancellation-forfeiture question above.

If a builder refuses a reasonable refund — how to complain

1
Send a written demand first
Factual, dated, with your payment receipts attached.
2
Escalate if refused or ignored
File with your State RERA Authority (for RERA-registered projects — civil courts are barred, §79) or your local Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (unfair one-sided forfeiture is a recognised deficiency-in-service / unfair-trade-practice claim).
3
Keep every document
Booking form, payment receipts, the builder's cancellation policy/clause, and your written demand.

What to do with this

Make a registered WILL — it settles Part 1's #1 and #3, and most family fights, before they start.
After any purchase: registry first, then mutation. Never rely on a GPA, or on mutation alone, as 'proof of ownership.'
If you're being denied a rightful share, facing encroachment, or your GPA is being misused — act quickly. These rights have deadlines.
Before you cancel a booking (or if a builder already forfeited it): don't accept 'policy hai' silently — put your demand in writing and know the ~10% benchmark, the Maharashtra 2% pre-agreement rule, and your full-refund right where the builder is at fault.

Not legal advice

General information, not legal advice — consult a lawyer for your specific case. Personal-law rights depend on religion, facts and dates; forfeiture and refund outcomes depend on your state's rules and the specific facts of your agreement.

Sources & citations›

Daughter as equal coparcener in ancestral property regardless of father's date of death (subject to 2005/2004 conditions): Supreme Court, Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, 2020; Hindu Succession Act §6.
Parents can void a conditional gift to a child who fails to maintain them: Maintenance & Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, §23; Supreme Court, Sudesh Chhikara (2022), Urmila Dixit (2025).
A nominee is a custodian, not the owner (beneficial-nominee exception for life insurance since 2015): Supreme Court, Shakti Yezdani (2023); Sarbati Devi; §45ZA Banking Regulation Act.
Adverse possession requires 12 years of open, hostile possession (30 years against government land): Limitation Act, Art. 65; Supreme Court, Ravinder Kaur Grewal (2019).
Registered sale deed (not mutation) confers title: Transfer of Property Act §54; Supreme Court, Samiullah v. State of Bihar (2025); Jitendra Singh v. State of MP (2021).
GPA / Agreement-to-Sell / Will do not transfer title: Supreme Court, Suraj Lamp & Industries Pvt. Ltd. (2) v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656 (11 Oct 2011); followed in Ghanshyam v. Yogendra Rathi (2023). Registration ≠ guaranteed ownership: Supreme Court, K. Gopi & Mahnoor Fatima Imran v. Sub-Registrar, 7 May 2025.
Builder cannot forfeit the entire booking amount; ~10% is a reasonable-ceiling benchmark, 20% struck down as a penalty: Godrej Projects Development Ltd v. Anil Karlekar, 2025 INSC 143 (3 Feb 2025), Contract Act §74, building on Kailash Nath Associates v. DDA (2015); one-sided clause = unfair trade practice under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
~2% forfeiture cap for cancellation before a registered Agreement for Sale — Maharashtra only: MahaRERA Order 35/2022.
Full refund + interest where the builder is at fault for delay: RERA Act, 2016, §18.

Your rights are only as good as the paper under them.

A daughter's coparcenary share, a GPA's real limits, a builder's refund obligation — all of it depends on a title you can actually trust. villow lists only verified properties (title checked, RERA confirmed, no GPA sales) and shows builder delivery track records up front, so the rights you just learned about never become something you have to fight for.