Instrument
Also called: Non-testamentary instrument, Written instrument
Under Section 3 of the TPA, 'instrument' means a non-testamentary instrument, that is, a document other than a will by which a right or liability is created, transferred or recorded.
Explained
Section 3 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 provides that 'instrument' means a non-testamentary instrument. The definition is exclusionary: it leaves out wills, which are governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925, and confines the word in the TPA to documents operating between living persons, such as sale deeds, mortgage deeds, leases and gift deeds. The general meaning, reflected in Section 2(14) of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, is a document by which a right or liability is, or purports to be, created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded.
The TPA requires a registered instrument for several transfers: a sale of tangible immovable property of one hundred rupees or more (Section 54), a mortgage, other than one by deposit of title-deeds, securing one hundred rupees or more (Section 59), a lease from year to year, for more than a year or reserving a yearly rent (Section 107), and a gift of immovable property (Section 123). The meaning of 'attested' in Section 3 applies to instruments that the Act requires to be attested. Section 17 of the Registration Act, 1908 lists non-testamentary instruments that must be registered.
Other statutes use the word for particular classes. A negotiable instrument is a promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque payable to order or bearer (Section 13 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881). For the Companies Act, 2013, Section 371(7) states that 'instrument' includes a deed of settlement, deed of partnership or limited liability partnership. The Specific Relief Act, 1963 provides for rectification of an instrument that does not express the parties' real intention because of fraud or mutual mistake (Section 26) and for cancellation of a void or voidable written instrument likely to cause serious injury (Section 31).
In Suraj Lamp and Industries v. State of Haryana (2011) the Supreme Court held that immovable property can be transferred only by a registered deed of conveyance, and that an agreement of sale or a power of attorney is not an instrument of transfer. Examiners test the non-testamentary meaning in the TPA and the remedies of rectification and cancellation.
What the law says
“immoveable property” does not include standing timber, growing crops or grass: “instrument”, means a non-testamentary instrument:
Defines instrument as a non-testamentary instrument
(a) instruments of gift of immovable property;
(b) other non-testamentary instruments which purport or operate to create, declare, assign, limit or extinguish, whether in present or in future, any right, title or interest, whether vested or contingent, of the value of one hundred rupees and upwards, to or in immovable property;
(c) non-testamentary instruments which acknowledge the receipt or payment of any consideration on account of the creation, declaration, assignment, limitation or extinction of any such right, title or interest; and
Non-testamentary instruments requiring compulsory registration
[(1) A “negotiable instrument” means a promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque payable either to order or to bearer.
Explanation (i)—A promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque is payable to order which is expressed to be so payable or which is expressed to be payable to a particular person, and does not contain words prohibiting transfer or indicating an intention that it shall not be transferable.
Explanation (ii)—A promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque is payble to bearer which is expressed to be so payable or on which the only or last indorsement is an indorsement in blank.
Defines negotiable instrument
Section 26, Specific Relief Act
(1) When, through fraud or a mutual mistake of the parties, a contract or other instrument in writing [not being the articles of association of a company to which the Companies Act, 1956 (1 of 1956), applies] does not express their real intention, then—
(a) either party or his representative in interest may institute a suit to have the instrument rectified; or
(b) the plaintiff may, in any suit in which any right arising under the instrument is in issue, claim in his pleading that the instrument be rectified; or
Rectification of instruments
Section 31, Specific Relief Act
(1) Any person against whom a written instrument is void or voidable, and who has reasonable apprehension that such instrument, if left outstanding may cause him serious injury, may sue to have it adjudged void or voidable; and the court may, in its discretion, so adjudge it and order it to be delivered up and cancelled.
(2) If the instrument has been registered under the Indian Registration Act, 1908 (16 of 1908), the court shall also send a copy of its decree to the officer in whose office the instrument has been so registered; and such officer shall note on the copy of the instrument contained in his books the fact of its cancellation.
Cancellation of instruments
(7) In this section, the expression “instrument” includes deed of settlement, deed of partnership, or limited liability partnership.
Section 371(7): instrument includes deed of settlement or partnership
For the exam
- In the TPA, 'instrument' means a non-testamentary instrument (Section 3); a will is not included.
- Registered instrument required for sale (54), mortgage (59), certain leases (107) and gift of immovables (123).
- Negotiable instrument: promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque (Section 13 NI Act).
- Rectification (Section 26) and cancellation (Section 31) of instruments under the Specific Relief Act.
- Suraj Lamp (2011): GPA or agreement of sale is not an instrument of transfer.
639 questions in the Law Maker question bank use this term. Practise Transfer of Property Act questions
Judgments
Related terms
- DocumentAny matter expressed, described or recorded on any substance by letters, figures, marks or other means, intended or usable to record or prove that matter, and including electronic and digital records.
- SaleA transfer of ownership in exchange for a price paid or promised or part-paid and part-promised (Section 54 of the TPA). Sale of goods is governed separately by Section 4 of the Sale of Goods Act, 1930.
- MortgageThe transfer of an interest in specific immovable property to secure the payment of money advanced or to be advanced as a loan, an existing or future debt, or an engagement giving rise to a pecuniary liability.
- Negotiable instrumentA promissory note, bill of exchange or cheque payable either to order or to bearer (Section 13(1) of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881).
- WillThe legal declaration of a testator's intention about his property, which he desires to take effect after his death (Section 2(h) of the Indian Succession Act, 1925).
Further reading
- Gifting Property to Family: Registration, Acceptance, Revocation, Legal Drive
- Joint Development Agreement: What a Landowner Must Check, Legal Drive
- The Transfer of Property Act, 1882, official text on India Code
- The Registration Act, 1908, official text on India Code
- The Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, official text on India Code
- The Specific Relief Act, 1963, official text on India Code
- The Companies Act, 2013, official text on India Code
Checked 6 November 2026. Statutory text is quoted from the Bare Acts library, taken from India Code. See the full glossary.