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The Maharashtra government has allowed free regularisation of land parcels purchased in violation of the Maharashtra Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act for transactions made between 15 November 1965 and 15 October 2024. The directive removes notes about fragmentation violations from 7/12 land records and ensures rightful buyers are recorded as occupants. The decision, backed by a recent government notification, is expected to help about 6 million landowners, including many in urban, commercial, and peripheral regions. Unregistered transactions can also be legally registered after paying stamp duty and registration fees.
The Maharashtra Revenue Department has introduced a major change for landowners by allowing free regularisation of land parcels that were earlier flagged under the Fragmentation Act. The new order directs officials to remove entries in the 7/12 land record that marked these transactions as violations and to update ownership details accordingly. Advertisement
The move applies to land deals carried out between 15 November 1965 and 15 October 2024. A notification issued earlier this month instructed district collectors, land-record officials, settlement officers and registration staff to begin implementing an eight-point process for updating records. This applies to both agricultural and non-agricultural parcels, including plots in areas governed by planning authorities such as MMRDA, PMRDA, NAINA, cantonment regions, town planning zones, residential and commercial corridors, and village-gaothan extensions.
Under the updated procedure, names of buyers will be added to the occupant column of the 7/12 extract. Cancelled or pending mutation entries will be rechecked and approved wherever required. Remarks noting 'transaction against the Fragmentation Act' will also be removed. Earlier, property owners were required to pay a penalty that was equal to 25 percent of the market value, which was later reduced to 5 percent. With the latest decision, this charge has been fully removed.
The government has also included land parcels that were bought through unregistered agreements, notarised documents or stamp papers. Such owners can now complete the registration process through the local talathi or circle office by paying the applicable stamp duty and registration fees. After this, their names will be added to the land record without any penalty under the Fragmentation Act. Once updated, the land can be sold or transferred without restrictions.
This reform is expected to benefit around 6 million families, amounting to nearly 30 million people, many of whom faced long delays because their plots were created during rapid urban growth but recorded under older rural-focused laws. Over the years, several small parcels around expanding cities remained ineligible for clean registration due to fragmentation rules that were originally meant for agricultural consolidation. The new order aims to resolve long-standing issues related to ownership clarity and land documentation.
Source PTI
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