Land Records Verification (mutation, khata, jamabandi, revenue records)

A sale deed and a revenue entry can fall out of step. Mutation may be pending. A khata may still stand in a developer’s name. A jamabandi or record of rights may show a cultivator or a co-owner the deed does not mention.

These records do not all prove title in the same way. In some states the revenue entry is important evidence. In others it is a fiscal record. We describe the entry we saw and the weight it usually carries in that location, without pretending the country has one land register.

Laws and records vary by state. Khata, mutation, jamabandi, patta, and municipal extracts are not interchangeable, and the office that holds them changes with the city. The points below describe the work in general. The papers we ask for follow the property’s location, and the report names the source that was actually consulted.

What this covers

• Mutation or the local equivalent, and whether it follows the last registered deed
• Khata or municipal account details where that city maintains them
• Jamabandi, record of rights, patta, or similar revenue extracts where they exist
• Survey numbers, extents, and boundaries as they appear across these records
• Entries that show a different owner, a government claim, or a restriction

Documents we typically need

• The latest mutation, khata, or revenue extract the seller holds
• The prior extract, if the account recently changed hands
• Tax demand linked to that account
• Any conversion order that should have altered the revenue classification

What you receive

• A comparison of the deed and the revenue or municipal entry
• Pending mutations and whose name still stands
• Differences in extent or identity that need a survey or a further extract
• The name of the record we relied on, so your local lawyer can pull the same one

Common red flags

• A khata or mutation still in the name of someone who sold years ago
• An extent in the revenue record that is materially smaller than the deed
• A government or ceiling remark that the agreement calls a “clerical note”
• Two parallel accounts for what is supposed to be one plot
• A seller who will transfer the khata only after full payment, with no undertaking you can enforce

Questions on this check