Purchaser's Liability Affidavit and Seller's No-Encumbrance Affidavit (Zimmedari Halafnama for an Authority Plot Transfer)

स्टाम्प ड्यूटी

Two affidavits, two separate Rs 25 papers — what GMADA's and GLADA's own RTS forms explicitly prescribe for both the Seller's and the Liability affidavit. Buy TWO papers: Part 2 in the Seller's name, Part 3 in the Purchaser's — running both onto one sheet is the commonest rejection reason. A joint holding adds Rs 25/owner for Part 2; joint purchasers add Rs 25/purchaser for Part 3. Each affidavit (Schedule included) must be complete on its own paper. The underlying charge is Art.4, Sch.I-A, Punjab — a fixed duty, not confirmed against a notified entry (the revenue.punjab.gov.in table has no affidavit line); Rs 25 is used because the Authority's own form demands it. Take the next denomination up if Rs 25 isn't on the shelf. One real risk applies to BOTH: each does double duty as an affidavit AND a genuine indemnity — Part 3 clause 4.2 (purchaser makes good the Authority's loss, personally) and Part 2 clause 10.4 (seller indemnifies the Authority and Purchaser, uncapped, binding the estate). A stamp authority could argue either counts as an Article 34 indemnity bond at a higher duty. In practice the Estate Office accepts Rs 25 on both; to close the argument for good, engross BOTH at Rs 100 instead — don't hedge only the Purchaser's affidavit, which protects the wrong party. Buy from a licensed vendor or as an e-stamp via Punjab's NGDRS (igrpunjab.gov.in), in the deponent's own name, dated on or after the paper's own date. Unstamped or under-stamped, it's inadmissible until duty and penalty (up to 10x) are paid (s.35), and can be impounded (s.33) — these affidavits exist to be produced exactly when somebody's story changes. Chandigarh is a different machine — not this form. A Chandigarh sector site is sold/leased under the Capital of Punjab Act 1952, its affidavit-cum-indemnity bond filed at the Sub-Registrar, 30 Bays Building, Sector 17 (auto-mutation since 2025), and a leasehold site needs the Estate Office's prior NOC and one-third of the unearned increase.

रजिस्ट्री

Neither affidavit is registrable — s.17 doesn't reach facts plus a personal undertaking. Optional under s.18 but adds nothing at a cost. Keep it that way if edited: a clause transferring/releasing/confirming an interest pulls it into s.17(1)(b), and unregistered, s.49 makes it inadmissible. The pack goes to the Estate Officer — GMADA (PUDA Bhawan, Sector 62, S.A.S. Nagar) or GLADA (GLADA Complex, Ludhiana). Per GMADA's form: processing fee Rs 2,500 (residential/houses) or Rs 5,000 (commercial); a transfer fee — only if sought BEFORE the conveyance deed issues — of 2.5% (residential/commercial) or 5% (houses); and, where the completion certificate wasn't obtained, a half-yearly extension fee of 2% (4th–5th year), 2.5% (6th–8th), 3% (9th–10th), 3.5% (11th–12th), 4% (13th–15th) — nothing before the 4th year. Figures revise 1 April. Getting the conveyance deed FIRST removes the 2.5%/5% transfer fee from a resale. Timelines: GMADA's form states 21 working days, its website 15; GLADA: 21 for an NOC, 15 for re-transfer on sale. Appeal delay to the Additional Chief Administrator. What IS registrable is the deed that follows. Apply after permission (GLADA: 15 working days) and register before the tehsil Sub-Registrar. Punjab rates: sale/gift deed 5% + 1% Social Infrastructure Cess + 1% PIDB = 7%; registration fee 1% (cap Rs 2,00,000); facilitation Rs 1,000/3,000/5,000 (≤10L/≤30L/>30L); mutation Rs 600; pasting Rs 200 — base is consideration or Collector rate, whichever higher. Present within four months (s.23); s.25 allows a further four on a 10x fine; beyond eight months, no cure.

नोटरी

Required — the whole point of the paper. Signed but not sworn, it's a letter the Estate Office clerk won't take. Swear before a Notary (Notaries Act 1952 r.11) or an Oath Commissioner (Punjab and Haryana High Court appointee) — each deponent separately; four deponents means four notarisations. Insist on: personal appearance; the notary recording how identity was checked; the notarial register's SERIAL NUMBER above the seal — check it; a legible seal/signature/registration number; and the Schedule on the SAME SHEET above the verification, so the jurat covers the property description too. Abroad: an Indian Mission officer; a local notary plus Apostille (India's a Hague party since 2005); or local notarisation legalised by that country's foreign ministry plus Indian Mission attestation. Notaries Act s.14 also allows reciprocal recognition, but it's patchy — an apostille is more reliable. Where the deponent doesn't read English, the notary should record in the jurat that the contents were read over, explained, and understood before swearing — Part 3 clause 2.2 is exactly the clause that gets signed unread.

गवाह

Not required by law — no witness block on the form; an affidavit needs the signature and jurat, nothing more. The two-witness rule (Transfer of Property Act s.59: mortgage; s.123: gift; Succession Act s.63: wills) doesn't reach it — though the conveyance/sale deed that follows DOES need two witnesses at the Sub-Registrar. Two witnesses to Part 3 are still worth having: clause 4 is an indemnity, not a fact, and a witness outweighs a later denial. Use adults unrelated to either side, names/addresses/phone recorded. Same for the Seller's indemnity at Part 2 clause 10.4. What the form DOES require, equally capable of rejecting a pack: a passport photo per affidavit; two specimen signatures per purchaser; self-attested photo ID for each; the purchaser's legal heirs' details with attested photos; and every deponent signing EVERY page with a left thumb impression. Every owner must sign the Part 1 application — the joint-owner block exists so a two-name allotment can't leave with one signature. An attorney signs only as confirming party, with a certified POA copy annexed.