A power of attorney lets one person sign for another. In a Bengaluru property deal it turns up everywhere: a landowner authorising a developer in a joint development, an NRI authorising a relative to register a purchase, an old sale that was never quite finished off with a proper deed. None of that makes a POA dangerous by itself. What makes it dangerous is treating it as if it were the sale.
This guide covers the property side of a power of attorney in Karnataka: the difference between a narrow, cheap POA and a broad one that is taxed like a sale, what a POA can and cannot do to your title, how it is registered and stamped, when it stops working, and what to check before you buy from, or through, someone holding one.
It does not repeat what two other guides already cover in full: the GPA a landowner gives a developer in a joint development, and the specific rules for a POA used by an NRI buyer. Both are linked from the relevant section below.
Two kinds of power of attorney
Karnataka’s own stamp schedule draws the line that matters. Article 41 of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 prices a power of attorney very differently depending on what it actually authorises, not on what it is called.
Limited to a single transaction or purpose – appearing at the sub-registrar’s office, or one specific act – under Article 41(a) to (d). A power to sell a property, even a single one, is stamped under the separate sale articles instead.
Given for consideration, or to someone outside the immediate family, authorising the sale of immovable property. Article 41(e) or (eb) taxes it at the same rate as the sale deed itself – because in substance, that is what it is being used for.
“GPA” and “SPA” are not terms the Act itself defines; they are shorthand people use for how broad the authority is. What actually matters for a buyer is not the label on the document but its clauses: does it authorise this specific act, for this specific property, or is it a general, standing authority the attorney can use however they see fit. A POA that lets someone collect your post is a different document from one that lets them sign away your flat, whatever either is called on its cover page.
Agency, not a transfer
The Supreme Court settled what a power of attorney actually does to title in Suraj Lamp & Industries v State of Haryana (2011): no title to immovable property passes by an agreement to sell, a GPA or a will – only a registered sale deed does that. A POA is, in the Court’s own words, “a document of convenience”: the attorney “only acts in place of the donor,” strictly within the powers the document grants, and “acts in a fiduciary capacity” rather than for their own benefit. What a valid POA does let an attorney do is execute a deed of conveyance on the owner’s behalf – sign a proper, registered sale deed, in the owner’s name, transferring the owner’s title.
That distinction is the whole risk in a “GPA sale”: handing over a power of attorney together with possession, in place of a registered sale deed, was for years used as a way to avoid stamp duty and registration. It never worked as a transfer of title. Whoever holds only a POA and possession, with no registered sale deed behind it, does not own the property – and neither would you, buying from them on the same basis. Our guide to agreement for sale versus sale deed covers why registration, not payment or possession, is what actually transfers ownership.
Registration and stamp duty
Stamp duty on a POA follows Article 41, set out above: a flat ₹100–200 for a narrow, single-purpose authority, and the same duty as a conveyance where it is given for consideration, or authorises a non-family member to sell. A separate clause, Article 41(ea), covers the GPA a landowner gives a developer in a joint development at the project’s own 2% rate, alongside the joint development agreement itself; our guide to buying in a joint development covers that pairing, the adjustment between the two documents’ duty, and what the audited shortfalls in that guide’s figures actually looked like – this guide does not repeat it.
Registration is a separate question from stamp duty, and today it is not compulsory for an ordinary POA. The Registration Act, 1908 requires registration of any non-testamentary document that “purport[s] or operate[s] to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish” an interest in immovable property worth ₹100 or more. Because Suraj Lamp holds that a POA itself conveys no interest, a plain POA does not fall within that clause and is not, as the law stands, compulsorily registrable purely for being a POA. In practice a POA authorising a sale is usually registered anyway, because a registered document is far easier for a buyer, a bank or a later sub-registrar to verify, and is kept in the sub-registrar’s own miscellaneous register. Treat an unregistered POA being used to authorise a sale as unusual, not as normal practice.
A law not yet switched on
The Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2025 would add a new clause to the Registration Act, 1908, making “power of attorney authorising transfer of immovable property with or without consideration” compulsorily registrable, and would require proof that the person who gave the power of attorney is still alive before it can be acted on. It received the President’s assent on 22 Jul 2025, but by its own commencement clause it takes effect only on a date the state government notifies in the Gazette. As of 10 Sep 2026 no such notification could be confirmed, so treat both changes as proposed, not yet in force – and check the current position with a lawyer or your sub-registrar’s office before you rely on either.
Once in force, this closes a real gap: nothing in the law as it stands today requires anyone to check that the person who signed a power of attorney is still alive before someone else uses it to sell their property.
A POA signed outside India
An NRI or anyone else abroad can authorise someone in Bengaluru to buy or sell on their behalf, but a POA executed outside India has extra steps before it is usable here: authentication before a notary, court, Indian consulate or an apostille, and stamping in Karnataka within a fixed window once it arrives. Our NRI buying guide covers all three steps – who can attest it, the apostille route, and the deadline to get it stamped – in full, and is the guide to read before you sign one abroad.
When a POA ends
A power of attorney is not permanent, and knowing when it stops working matters as much as knowing what it authorises. The Indian Contract Act, 1872 governs this. Section 201 lists how an agency – which is what a POA legally creates – comes to an end: among other ways, by the principal revoking it, or by the death of either the principal or the agent. Section 202 carves out one exception, and the Supreme Court set out its exact words in P. Seshareddy v State of Karnataka (2022): “where the agent has himself an interest in the property which forms the subject-matter of the agency, the agency cannot, in the absence of an express contract, be terminated to the prejudice of such interest.” This is what people mean by a power of attorney “coupled with interest.”
The same judgment is a useful warning against reading too much into that phrase. The Court held that the attorney in that case kept his authority after the principal’s death only because he held a separate, proven interest in the underlying contract – not merely because he held a power of attorney. The government’s own counsel had argued that “merely on the basis of General Power of Attorney, it cannot be construed that the appellant had an interest in the contract,” and the Court’s reasoning turned on a separate assignment deed, not the POA itself. A document that calls itself “irrevocable” or “coupled with interest” is not automatically either of those things in law; whether it genuinely is depends on whether the attorney actually has an interest in the property, not on the words used to describe the power.
For a buyer, the practical point is this: if the person selling to you is acting under someone else’s power of attorney, ask whether the principal is still alive, and whether anything has happened since the POA was signed – a revocation, or the principal’s death – that would already have ended it under section 201, unless section 202’s narrow exception genuinely applies.
Buying through an attorney
Where a POA sits somewhere in the chain behind a flat you are buying, four checks decide whether it is safe to rely on.
| Check | Where to look | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Is it registered? | The document itself, or the sub-registrar’s miscellaneous register | Not compulsory today for an ordinary POA, but a registered one is far harder to fabricate or backdate |
| Has it been cancelled? | A certified copy and a search for any cancellation at the sub-registrar’s office; a POA sits in the miscellaneous register, which an EC does not reflect | A POA that was later cancelled is a live risk your lawyer needs to see, not just its original grant |
| Is the principal alive? | An affidavit or recent proof of life – nothing in today’s law requires this to be checked | Under section 201, death alone can end the agency unless section 202’s narrow exception applies |
| Does it cover a sale? | The specific clause – “sell”, “convey” or “execute a sale deed”, not just “manage” or “represent” | A POA limited to appearance or management cannot be used to sign a valid sale deed |
A specimen shows what to look for on the document itself. The clauses that matter most are rarely on the first page.
I, [name], son/daughter of [father’s name], aged [age] years, residing at [address] 1, presently residing at [city/country] and unable to attend personally to my affairs in Bengaluru 2, hereinafter the “Principal”, do hereby appoint [name], residing at [address], as my true and lawful Attorney, to do the following acts regarding my property bearing Sy. No. [00/0], [village], [hobli], [taluk], measuring [extent] 3:
1. To appear before the Sub-Registrar, [office], and admit execution of documents on my behalf.
2. To negotiate, sign and register an agreement for sale and a sale deed for the above property, and to
receive the consideration on my behalf 4.
3. To appear before the khata, BWSSB, BESCOM and other authorities on my behalf.
This Power of Attorney is given for consideration and is stated to be coupled with interest and irrevocable 5. Executed and registered as document No. [0000/25–26] at the office of the Sub-Registrar, [office], on [date] 6. [Where executed outside India: attested before the Notary Public / Indian Consulate at [city, country] 7.]
- The description. Name, parentage, age and address should match an identity document exactly, and the address tells you whether this was likely executed in India or abroad.
- The reason given. Not legally required, but a genuine, specific reason – illness, distance, being abroad – is a good sign. A power of attorney for a large sale with no stated reason at all is worth a harder look.
- The property description. Survey and hissa number, village and extent should match the RTC and title deeds exactly, the same as any other document in the chain.
- The scope. This is the clause that decides everything: does it actually say “sell”, “convey” or “execute a sale deed” for this property, or only “manage”, “lease” or “represent”? A POA that only lets the attorney appear at the registrar’s office cannot be used to sign away the property.
- “Coupled with interest” and “irrevocable”. These words alone do not make a POA irrevocable in law. Under section 202, only an attorney with a genuine interest in the property itself keeps that protection, and only where there is no agreement saying otherwise.
- Registration. A registered POA is easier to verify later, and is already standard practice for one authorising a sale. Ask the sub-registrar’s office for a certified copy and a search for any cancellation; an EC will not show either.
- Execution abroad. A POA signed outside India needs authentication before a notary, a court, an Indian consulate, or an apostille, and stamping within three months of reaching Karnataka; see the NRI buying guide, linked above, for the full procedure.
Red flags
- Possession and an unregistered power of attorney offered in place of a registered sale deed.
- A POA that only lets the attorney appear or manage, being used to sign an actual sale.
- No way to confirm the principal is currently alive, especially where the POA is several years old.
- “Irrevocable” or “coupled with interest” asserted on the document with nothing else in the file showing the attorney’s own interest in the property.
- A POA executed abroad with no apostille, consular attestation, or Karnataka stamping receipt.
- Being told an encumbrance certificate proves the POA is still valid: a POA is not recorded on an EC.
- Reluctance to let your own lawyer contact the principal directly before you pay anything.
Before you buy
- Read the scope clause itself: does it authorise a sale, or only appearance and management.
- Check whether it is registered, and if not, ask why not.
- Get a certified copy of the POA and a search for any cancellation from the sub-registrar, not just an EC.
- Confirm the principal is alive, directly if you can, before you pay anything.
- Treat “irrevocable” as a claim to verify, not a fact to accept on the document’s own word.
- For a POA signed abroad, check the attestation or apostille, and the Karnataka stamping date.
- Get a lawyer’s opinion in writing before you sign anything that relies on someone else’s power of attorney.
Sources, checked 10 Sep 2026. Stamp duty on a power of attorney: Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957, Article 41(a)–(d), (e), (ea) and (eb) (dpal.karnataka.gov.in). A power of attorney is agency, not a transfer: Suraj Lamp & Industries Pvt Ltd v State of Haryana (Supreme Court, 2011). Compulsory registration today: Registration Act, 1908, section 17(1)(b). The 2025 amendment: the Registration (Karnataka Amendment) Act, 2025, inserting sections 17(1)(f) and a proviso to 33(4); assented 22 Jul 2025, commencement not confirmed as of this date. Execution abroad: Registration Act, section 33(1)(c); Karnataka Stamp Act, section 18(1) – see our NRI buying guide for the full procedure. Termination of agency: Indian Contract Act, 1872, sections 201 and 202, the latter quoted verbatim in P. Seshareddy (D) v State of Karnataka & Ors (Supreme Court, 9 Nov 2022). This is a general guide, not legal advice; have a lawyer examine the specific power of attorney behind any purchase before you rely on it.