Section 22A of the Registration Act exists to prevent exactly this, and knowing how to check the register is one of the most valuable steps a buyer can take.
What Section 22A Is
It empowers the government to notify certain categories of property as prohibited from registration. When a property is listed under 22A, the Sub-Registrar will not register a sale of it. The provision protects public land and vulnerable categories of land from being sold off unlawfully.
What Falls Under It
The prohibited categories broadly include government owned land, assigned lands granted to weaker sections, endowment and temple lands, wakf property, land belonging to local bodies, and property subject to specific statutory restrictions or pending disputes. The common thread is that these are lands the law does not permit to be freely bought and sold.
Why It Matters So Much to a Buyer
A sale of 22A property can be void. You may pay the full price, take possession, even build, and still hold no legal title, because the transaction the law prohibited never conferred ownership in the first place. Unlike many defects that can be cured with effort, this one frequently cannot be fixed after the fact.
How to Check
The prohibited property lists are maintained by the registration and revenue authorities, and the check should be made before you commit and before registration. In practice it is carried out as part of proper due diligence, alongside the title search and the encumbrance certificate. Because the classifications can be technical, particularly around assigned and endowment land, it is worth having the check done by someone who knows the categories rather than relying on a seller's assurance.
If a seller is reluctant to let you verify whether a property sits in the 22A register, treat that reluctance as a serious warning in itself. A clean property has nothing to hide from this check, and confirming it is a small step that can prevent a total and often irreversible loss.