Power of attorney in Punjab and Chandigarh, 2026

What is a power of attorney, and when do you need one?

A power of attorney, or Mukhtiarnama, is a deed by which you, the principal, authorise someone you trust, the attorney, to act for you. The usual case in Punjab and Chandigarh is an absentee owner, often an NRI, whose property business should not stall: the attorney can pay land revenue and house tax, deal with the Halqa Patwari and the Tehsildar, collect rent and defend a suit filed against the owner.

The principal must be eighteen or over and of sound mind. India has no enduring power of attorney: the agency ends the moment the principal becomes of unsound mind, and if the principal dies the deed dies with them.

General or special: which power of attorney do you need?

A general power of attorney covers a range of management tasks. A special one covers a single named job and, our page notes, is cheaper to stamp and much safer to hand over, so use the narrow deed if one task is all you need.

• General power of attorney: management only, with no power to sell immovable property.
• Special power of attorney: one specific, named transaction only.
• Rent collection and management: if a tenancy is all you need managed.
• NRI power of attorney: an overseas Indian’s deed for someone to manage one property here.

Can a power of attorney be used to sell property?

Not our general deed: it is drafted to exclude any power to sell, mortgage, gift, exchange or long-lease immovable property. Even a sale power would convey nothing by itself: in Suraj Lamp & Industries Ltd. v. State of Haryana the Supreme Court held that an interest in immovable property passes only under a duly stamped and registered conveyance.

To sell, the owner signs a registered sale deed (see our guide to the sale deed), or gives a power limited to that one sale: the NRI special power of attorney to sell one property or, for a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent or grandchild, the power of attorney to sell to a blood relation. The attorney must still execute and register the sale deed with a real buyer.

What does a power of attorney cost in stamp duty in Punjab and Chandigarh?

In Punjab, for Rs 2,000, buy non-judicial stamp paper from the licensed vendor at the tehsil complex, or an e-stamp where the counter offers one, in the principal’s own name. Stamp it before or at signing, or, for a deed signed abroad, within three months of its first receipt in India: an unstamped deed is inadmissible in evidence and no public officer may act on it.

Does a power of attorney need to be registered or notarised?

Registration is not compulsory: a power of attorney is not on the list in section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908. It is still worth doing: a registered deed sits on a record a bank, a buyer or a patwari can search, and gives you a place to register the revocation later.

Notarise it in every case; that is why a bank manager or an Estate Office clerk will act on it. Sign before two independent witnesses: no statute imposes a general two-witness rule, but the offices that read the deed expect them, and they must not be the attorney or the attorney’s spouse.

To register, go to the Sub-Registrar or Joint Sub-Registrar of the tehsil in Punjab (fee Rs 400, facilitation charges Rs 2,000) or the Sub-Registrar, UT Chandigarh, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17 (the published table says Rs 50 plus a Rs 20 pasting fee). Both tables are undated, so confirm at the counter. In Chandigarh the first witness must qualify under paragraph 127 of the Punjab Registration Manual, for example a Lambardar, Sarpanch, councillor or advocate.

What if you are signing from outside India?

Notarisation alone is not enough. The safer route is to sign before the Indian Consul or Vice-Consul at the Embassy, High Commission or Consulate with jurisdiction over where you live; a local Notary Public with an apostille should be adequate under section 33(1)(c) of the Registration Act, 1908, but counters have been reported refusing it.

Diarise the day the deed reaches India: the three-month stamping clock under section 18 of the Indian Stamp Act and the registration clock under section 26 of the Registration Act both run from that day, not from signing. For a Chandigarh sector site the Finance Department of the Chandigarh Administration must also emboss the deed before the Estate Office will act on it.

How does a power of attorney end?

You can cancel it at any time by a separate deed of revocation, and if the original was registered, register the revocation too. It also ends if the attorney dies, renounces in writing, becomes of unsound mind or is adjudicated insolvent, and cannot be handed on: a fresh deed is needed.

What mistakes should you avoid, and how do you make one for free?

• Assuming the general deed lets the attorney sell. It deliberately does not.
• Treating notarisation as enough abroad, or counting the stamping and registration deadlines from the signing date instead of the day the deed arrives in India.

Fill in our free general power of attorney online. You choose which powers to hand over, from banking and property management to revenue, tax or litigation, and can set an end date. Have both people’s details and two witnesses’ names ready.

Questions people ask