A Guide to Maintenance of Land Records in Southern States

Posted On - 6 June, 2020 • By - Aishwarya S

Guide to Maintenance of Land Records

Owning a property has always been a dream of every individual irrespective of his status in society. In order to fulfil this dream, one has to overcome two obstacles, one being money & the other being property scams and frauds by realtors. The first obstacle can be overcome easily but it is very difficult to overcome the second obstacle since it is not easy to detect property scams and frauds. Although due diligence of the property is conducted to detect illegalities of the property.

The process of due diligence involves assessing the ownership of the property and the detection of encumbrances on the property. Land record is one of the important document which enables the assessment of ownership and detection of encumbrances over the property. These records are maintained by revenue departments of the respective states.

Earlier these land records were maintained in manual registers but after the introduction of technologies, almost every state in India provides access to land records by payment of fees online or free of cost.

A Guide to Maintenance of Land Records in Southern States

The following is the manner in which land records are maintained by various southern states:

KARNATAKA

The land records are maintained by the Revenue Department of Karnataka and they are maintained in the following manner:

  • RTC[1]– RTC  is an acronym for Record of rights, Tenancy and Crop Information which contains following details:
  1. Landowner details
  2. Type of land
  3. Total area of land
  4. Water rate
  5. Type of soil
  6. Nature of possession
  7. Liabilities
  8. Tenancy
  9. Crops grown
  • Mutation Register [2]– If there is a change in ownership of land or partition or sub-division then such entries will be recorded in mutation register. Further, it also contains details regarding the land such as survey number, previous oner and all the transactions which have been recorded. The extract of this register is issued by the Revenue department of Karnataka. It also contains the following details:
  1. Survey no
  2. Transaction year
  3. Transaction number
  4. Mutation register number
  5.  Type of Mutation
  6. Type of Acquisition
  7. Date of approval of mutation

TAMILNADU

In the state of Tamilnadu, land records are maintained by the Revenue, Disaster Management and Mitigation Department.  The land records are maintained in the following manner:

  • A-register[3]– It is a primary and permanently printed register maintained by the Revenue Department which contains details regarding the lands of the entire rural or urban area.  Nowadays, in the urban areas, the’ A’ register is substituted by Town Survey Land Register (TSLR). In’ A’ register, the details of the lands are specified for every survey number and it also contains the classification of lands viz  Dry lands, Wet lands (agricultural lands) and also Government lands known as Poramboke lands. Further, it also contains an abstract of Total No. of holdings, Total area for Dry, Wet and Poramboke lands. All the details are pertaining to date of publication of the Register. Regarding the TSLR, details of lands with houses, area of the holding, details of the vacant site alone are available, since there may not be any cultivable lands.
  • Chitta [4]– It is also known as ”Village Account No. 10(1) or Chitta”. Although the details are similar to the ‘A’ Register, the day to day changes of the land such as ownership, mutation, Land Tax, etc., are carried out and updated. Such details are:
  1. Details of landowner
  2. Extent of land
  3. Classification of land whether Dry or Wet land
  4. Details of land tax paid
  5. Details regarding survey no. of land

In order to avail of these details, the Revenue Department maintains “10(1) Chitta” or “Chitta” as known in the local language. This Chitta is not available to TSLR.

  • Patta[5] – It refers to the extract of Chitta which is issued to the individuals (Landlords or Pattadars). Previously, the revenue department issued Patta in the form of a passbook, and the details were in the form of a manuscript. However, after the introduction of technology Patta, a statement is issued by the department by extracting it from the portal, known as e. services. For urban area, an extract of Town Survey Land Register(TSLR )will serve the purpose of Patta. 
  • Adangal[6] – Although the revenue department maintains A-register and Chitta for maintaining the details regarding land. Those registers do not contain the details regarding the type of crops cultivated or tenancy details of the agricultural lands. One can find those details in “Adangals”. It is otherwise known as Village Account No. 2. These are maintained for Fasli year commencing from 1st  July of every calendar year and concludes on the 30th day of June of the next calendar year.

TELANGANA AND ANDHRA PRADESH

Although the state of Andhra Pradesh was divided into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, there are certain matters in which law remains common for both the states. The land records are maintained by the Chief Commissioner Land Administration in Telangana and Revenue department of Andhra Pradesh in following manner :

  • Sethwar[7] – It is a permanent register maintained by the revenue department for the collecting land revenue or water tax. It contains details regarding land with survey number, the extent of classification, source of water supply, landowner details, etc.
  • Mutation Register [8]– This register is also known as the “Transfer registry”. This register contains details regarding the change in ownership of the land due to partition, sub-division, etc. The entries in the register are usually recorded by Village Revenue Officer and are subject to approval by the Mandal Revenue Inspector and Tahsildar.
  • Pahani /Adangals [9]– It contains details regarding the crops cultivated by the person over the land and contains complete information regarding land such as survey numbers, name of the owner, classification of soil, source of irrigation in case of wet lands , settlement particulars of fields, second crops cultivation for dry lands, etc. This register is known as Pahani in the state of Telangana and Adangals in the State of Andhra Pradesh.
  • Record of Rights [10]– It is officially known as ROR 1B. This register contains details regarding the land such as owner’s name, survey number, the extent of land held by the owner, etc. These records are maintained by Chief Commissioner of Land Administration for the state of Telangana and Revenue department in the state of Andhra Pradesh

KERALA

The land records are maintained by the Department of Revenue and Land Survey, Kerala. It is maintained in the following manner:

  • Record of Rights – Although it is a common document for land records maintained by every state at the same time, we cannot deny the fact that the way it is maintained is different from other states. In Kerala, this document is maintained as per the Kerala Record of Rights Act, 1968. According to the act, it should contain the following details[11]:
  1. Description and extent of land
  2. Name and address of occupier of the land
  3. Name and address of person interested in the land
  4. Nature and extent of the interest of the occupier and interested person
  5. Name and address of Kudikidapukkars, if any
  6. Such other particulars as may be required
  • Settlement register[12] – This  is a permanent register maintained by Revenue and Land survey department of Kerala and it contains details regarding the survey number details of land in the entire urban or rural area.

Conclusion

The above ways are used to maintain land records by respective states in South India. However, on the analysis of the above, we can notice that the Record of Rights is the common document that is maintained by every state in its land records. On the other hand, we also cannot deny the fact that there have been slight differences in the method of maintenance of land records by the states.

Contributed By – Aishwarya. S
Designation – Associate

King Stubb & Kasiva,
Advocates & Attorneys

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