Karnataka amends land mutation rules on paper, not in practice

The Karnataka government has amended the Land Revenue Rules of 1966, and reduced the notice period for the mutation of registered documents to seven days, and unregistered documents to 15 days, from one month previously. This is the notice that needs to be given to the sub-registrar.

Additionally, the amendment says that tahsildars, who have been tasked with executing the mutations per the order of the sub-registrar, have to act within 15 days of receiving the order. Earlier, no timeline was specified for this.

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Homebuyers claim that despite several requests, the sub-registrar's office has not been ordering tahsildars to complete the mutation for the land on which the housing society stands.

Mutation of property is the process by which the title of a property is changed in municipal records once the property has been transferred to the new owner.

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Without mutation, records at the land revenue department will continue to reflect the name of the previous landowner. "Sale deeds say that apartment owners have an undivided share in the title, but land records in the revenue department mention the former landowner," said Dhananjaya Padmanabhachar, Director, Karnataka Home Buyers Forum.

Earlier, after tahsildars disobeyed a 2014 court order directing them to survey the land of a of 68-year-old lady, the Karnataka High Court (HC) had directed the tahsildars who held the post between July 24, 2014, to February 10, 2022, to jointly pay Rs 3 lakh to lady.

Ameya Usgaonkar, one of the homebuyers at Sobha City, had executed the sales deed in 2011. A letter written by him to the sub-registrar's office on November 7 said, "We see that our names do not appear in the mutation records of the aforementioned survey numbers. On the other hand, we observe that the records still reflect the names of the (former) landowners and their kin. As a result, our encumbrance on the title of the land is apparently under threat as the land can potentially be re-mortgaged without our knowledge."

Mutation is applicable not just to apartment complexes but to all types of land, including those meant for agricultural or commercial purposes.

Chapter III (4f) of the KRERA Act mentions says that, "The promoter shall execute a registered conveyance deed of the apartment, plot, or building, as the case may be, in favour of the allottee, along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of allottees or competent authority, as the case may be, as provided under section 17 of this Act."

RTI activist and Bangalore City Flat Owners' Welfare Association (BCFOWA) President Anil Kalgi said that mutation cannot be done if the land has not been transferred to the housing society through a conveyance deed. "The bhoomi records (land record) will continue to show the name of the landowners," he added.

Padmanabhachar feels that this may be the reason why municipal records are not being updated. "Once the promoter executes the conveyance deed, the land title is conveyed to the housing society. Thereafter, the bhoomi records will be updated with the housing society’s name," he added.

Homebuyers are planning to meet the sub-registrar and the land revenue department to get some clarity on this.