23. Subject to the provisions contained in sections 24, 25 and 26, no document other than a will shall be accepted for registration unless presented for that purpose to the proper officer within ¹[three months] from the date of its execution:Provided that a copy of a decree or order may be presented within ²[three months] from the day on which the decree or order was made, or, where it is appealable, within ³[three months] from the day on which it becomes final.

⁴[23A. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Act, if in any case a document requiring registration has been accepted for registration by a Registrar or Sub-Registrar from a person not duly empowered to present the same, and has been registered, any person claiming under such document may, within four months from this first becoming aware that the registration of such document is invalid, present such document or cause the same to be presented, in accordance with the provisions of Part VI for re-registration in the office of the Registrar of the district in which the document was originally registered; and upon the Registrar being satisfied that the document was so accepted for registration from a person not duly empowered to present the same, he shall proceed to the re-registration of the document as if it had not been previously registered, and as if such presentation for re-registration was a presentation for registration made within the time allowed therefor under Part IV, and all the provisions of this Act, as to registration of documents, shall apply to such re-registration; and such document, if duly re-registered in accordance with the provisions of this section, shall be deemed to have been duly registered for all purposes from the date of its original registration:Provided that, within three months from the twelfth day of September, 1917, any person claiming under a document to which this section applies may present the same or cause the same to be presented for re-registration in accordance with this section, whatever may have been the time when he first became aware that the registration of the document was invalid.]

24. Where there are several persons executing a document at different times, such document may be presented for registration and re-registration within four months from the date of each execution.

25. (1) If, owing to urgent necessity or unavoidable accident, any document executed, or copy of a decree or order made, in Bangladesh is not presented for registration till after the expiration of the time hereinbefore prescribed in that behalf, the Registrar, in cases where the delay in presentation does not exceed four months, may direct that, on payment of a fine not exceeding ten times the amount of the proper registration-fee, such document shall be accepted for registration. (2) Any application for such direction may be lodged with a Sub-Registrar, who shall forthwith forward it to the Registrar to whom he is subordinate.

26. When a document purporting to have been executed by all or any of the parties out of Bangladesh is not presented for registration will after the expiration of the time hereinbefore prescribed in that behalf, the registering officer, if satisfied- (a) that the instrument was so executed, and (b) that it has been presented for registration within four months after its arrival in Bangladesh, may, on payment of the proper registration fee, accept such document for registration.

27. A will may at any time be presented for registration or deposited in manner hereinafter provided.