Registrar of titles’ role explained

JUSTICE Nicholas Miviri says the registrar of titles has powers under the Land Registration Act to summon, cancel and restore titles if the proprietor fails to provide or produce original copies of titles for state lease land.
In the Waigani National Court yesterday, Justice Miviri dismissed a review of a decision by the registrar that issued a replacement of a state lease Volume 25, Folio 99, to another person after the proprietor failed to produce original copies of state lease land ownership.
The subject property is Allotment 7, Section 2, at Vanimo Top Town in West Sepik.
The property has two different State leases, the first is Volume 25, Folio 32, which is a commercial lease that was initially granted to the National Housing Corporation (NHC) which then transferred it to Jaro Investment Ltd (plaintiff).
The second is a State lease Volume 25, Folio 99, a residential lease initially over the same land granted to NHC which then transferred it to Yan Gui Ping (fourth respondent).
The registrar issued a replacement State lease Volume 25, Folio 99, in respect of the same land to Yan, after Aug 15, 2018, Jaro Investment turned down its summons that sought original owner’s copy of that State lease in order to cancel the transfer of the state lease from the NHC, citing various grounds including fraud.
Jaro then filed a review of the registrar’s decision claiming that the issuing of the State lease volume 25, Folio 99, and transfer to Yan was procedurally improper pursuant to the Act and that the decision was ultra vires to the Act.
Justice Miviri, however, ruled that the replacement of the State lease was in accordance with the powers of registrar of titles under Section 160, 16 and 162 to summon, cancel and restore titles and by which was exercised without any error known to apparently identifiable.