Mere Use Of Word 'Irrevocable' Doesn't Make Power Of Attorney Irrevocable; PoA's Nature Determined By Its Subject Matter : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court today observed that the nature of a power of attorney is determined by its subject matter and not its title. At the same time, even if there is no expression to the effect that the POA is irrevocable but the reading of the document indicates that it is a POA coupled with interest, it would be irrevocable.” For context, as per the appellants, an original owner of the concerned property executed an irrevocable general power of attorney along with an unregistered agreement to sell in favour of a holder. To support, the Court referred to several cases, including State of Rajasthan v. Basant Nahata, 12 SCC 77, and observed: “From the above exposition of law, it is settled that power of attorney is a creation of an agency by which the grantor/donor/executant authorizes the grantee/donee/holder/attorney to do the acts specified on his behalf, which will be binding on the executant as if the acts were done by him.” Having established this, the Court examined the appellant's contention that the attorney holder had an interest in the subject matter, which makes the agency irrevocable as per Section 202 of the Contract Act. “From the independent reading of the POA and the agreement to sell, the submissions of the appellants fail on two grounds, first, the POA is general in nature and does not secure agent's right in the subject-matter of the agency, and secondly, an agreement to sell simpliciter does not confer ownership in the immovable property so as to transfer a better title to anyone else.,” the Court ruled. Also from the judgment - Power Of Attorney With Agreement To Sell Won't Create Agent's Interest In Property; Such GPA Gets Revoked On Principals' Death : Supreme Court Case Name: M. S. ANANTHAMURTHY & ANR v. J. MANJULA ETC., CIVIL APPEAL NOS.