Glossary

Indian property law, defined

53 terms from Indian property documentation - each with what it proves, what it does not, and which authority issues it.

Deeds & instruments

Agreement to Sell: An agreement to sell is a contract to transfer property at a future date on agreed terms - it creates an enforceable right to seek conveyance but does not itself transfer ownership.
General Power of Attorney (GPA): A General Power of Attorney authorises another person to act on the owner's behalf - it is an instrument of agency and does not transfer ownership of property.
Gift Deed: A gift deed transfers ownership of property voluntarily and without consideration, and it must be registered to be effective for immovable property.
Joint Development Agreement (JDA): A Joint Development Agreement is a contract under which a landowner contributes land and a developer contributes construction and capital, sharing the resulting built area or revenue.
MODT (Memorandum of Deposit of Title Deeds): An MODT is a registered memorandum recording that title deeds have been deposited with a lender to create an equitable mortgage.
Mother Deed: The mother deed is the earliest deed in a chain of title that establishes the origin of ownership, from which every subsequent transfer descends.
Release Deed: A release deed is an instrument by which a co-owner gives up their share in jointly-held property in favour of the other co-owners.
Sale Deed: A sale deed is the registered instrument that actually transfers ownership of immovable property from seller to buyer in exchange for a price.
Will: A will is a declaration of how a person's property is to be distributed after death, taking effect only on death and revocable until then.

Revenue records

7/12 Extract (Satbara): The 7/12 extract is Maharashtra's revenue record for agricultural land, combining the register of rights (Form 7) with the register of crops (Form 12).
Form 9 and Form 11: Form 9 and Form 11 are the Gram Panchayat records issued through e-Swathu for non-agricultural property in Karnataka's rural areas - Form 9 establishes the property for tax purposes and Form 11 is the demand register entry.
Khasra and Khatauni: Khasra is the plot-wise field record in North Indian states and Khatauni is the holder-wise account aggregating all plots held by one person in a village.
Khata: A Khata is a municipal account record identifying who is liable to pay property tax on a holding - it is a revenue-and-identity entry, not a title document.
Mutation: Mutation is the updating of the revenue or municipal record to show a new holder after a transfer, inheritance or partition.
Patta and Chitta: Patta is the Tamil Nadu revenue record naming the registered holder of a land parcel, and Chitta records its classification and extent.
RTC (Record of Rights, Tenancy and Crops): The RTC, also called the Pahani, is Karnataka's revenue record for agricultural land, showing the recorded owner, the cultivator, the extent, the land classification and the crops grown.
ULPIN (Bhu-Aadhaar): ULPIN is a fourteen-character unique identifier assigned to a land parcel based on its geo-coordinates, intended to give every parcel in India a permanent, portable identity.

Certificates & searches

11E Sketch: An 11E sketch is a survey-department drawing showing the precise boundaries and extent of a sub-divided portion of a survey number, and it is required before a part of a survey number can be registered separately.
CERSAI: CERSAI is the central registry where lenders record security interests over property, including equitable mortgages that never appear on an Encumbrance Certificate.
Encumbrance Certificate (EC): An Encumbrance Certificate is a sub-registrar-issued statement listing every transaction registered against a specific property during a stated period.
Legal Heir Certificate: A legal heir certificate is a revenue-authority document identifying the surviving family members of a deceased person, used for transferring records and claiming benefits.
Succession Certificate: A succession certificate is a civil-court order authorising the holder to receive debts and securities belonging to a deceased person who died without a will.

Legal concepts

Adverse Possession: Adverse possession is the acquisition of title by someone who has openly, continuously and hostilely possessed land belonging to another for the statutory limitation period - twelve years against a private owner in India.
Benami Transaction: A benami transaction is one where property is held in one person's name but paid for by, and held for the benefit of, another - prohibited in India, with the property liable to confiscation.
Chain of Title: The chain of title is the unbroken sequence of registered transfers running from the mother deed to the present owner, each link proving how the property passed to the next holder.
Clear and Marketable Title: Title is clear and marketable when an owner can transfer it free of reasonable doubt, with no encumbrance, defect or claim that would cause a prudent buyer to refuse it.
Equitable Mortgage: An equitable mortgage is created by depositing original title deeds with a lender as security, without executing a registered mortgage deed.
Form 7 Tenancy Claim: A Form 7 is an application by a cultivating tenant for occupancy rights under the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, and a granted or pending claim can defeat the recorded owner.
Guidance Value: Guidance value is the government-notified minimum rate per unit area at which a property may be registered, and stamp duty is calculated on the higher of guidance value or actual consideration.
Land Ceiling: Land ceiling laws cap the extent of agricultural land a person or family may hold, with land held in excess liable to be declared surplus and vested in the state.
Legal Scrutiny Report (LSR): A Legal Scrutiny Report is a lender-commissioned opinion by a panel advocate confirming that a property is legally fit to be accepted as security for a loan.
Lis Pendens: Lis pendens is the rule under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act that a property transferred while a suit concerning it is pending passes subject to the outcome of that suit.
Phodi (Podi): Phodi is the official sub-division of a survey number into separately-numbered parcels, updating the survey and revenue records to reflect the split.
Section 79A and 79B: Sections 79A and 79B of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act historically barred non-agriculturists and non-agricultural entities from acquiring farmland in Karnataka, and were repealed by amendment in 2020.
Title Insurance: Title insurance is an indemnity policy covering financial loss from defects in title that existed but were undiscovered at the time of purchase.
Title Search Report (TSR): A Title Search Report is a lawyer-signed document that traces a property's ownership history, confirms whether the current owner holds clear and marketable title, and lists every encumbrance, litigation and statutory restriction affecting it.
Undivided Share of Land (UDS): The undivided share of land is the proportionate interest in the common land that an apartment buyer owns alongside the exclusive right to their unit.

Land classification

Bagair Hukum Land: Bagair hukum is government land brought under cultivation without authority, which can only become private property if it is formally regularised and the grant conditions are met.
Darkhast Land: Darkhast land is government land granted to a landless applicant, and the grant order almost always imposes a period during which it cannot be sold.
Gomala Land: Gomala is government land set aside for common grazing, and it cannot be privately owned or sold unless lawfully granted and the grant conditions are satisfied.
Gramthana: Gramthana is the traditional village habitation area, where property is non-agricultural by nature and needs no DC conversion order to be built on.
Inam Land: Inam land is land historically granted rent-free by a ruler or the state for religious, charitable or service purposes, and its transferability depends on whether the inam was abolished and the occupancy right validly conferred.
Jamma Land: Jamma is a distinctive tenure surviving in Kodagu, historically granted for service, carrying transfer restrictions not found elsewhere in Karnataka.
Kharab Land: Kharab is the portion of a survey number classified in the revenue record as uncultivable, and B-kharab in particular is land reserved for public purposes that cannot be sold.
Muzrai Land: Muzrai land belongs to a religious or charitable institution under the Karnataka Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments Act and cannot be alienated without government sanction.
Poramboke Land: Poramboke is government land reserved for public or communal purposes - water bodies, roads, burial grounds - which cannot be privately owned or transferred.
PTCL (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands Act): The Karnataka PTCL Act 1978 restricts the transfer of land granted to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe holders, and a sale made in breach of it can be set aside and the land restored to the grantee or their heirs.

Approvals & compliance

Akrama Sakrama: Akrama Sakrama is the Karnataka scheme for regularising buildings and layouts that deviate from municipal rules, and it addresses planning breaches rather than defects in title.
DC Conversion: DC conversion is the Deputy Commissioner's order converting land from agricultural to non-agricultural use, and it is mandatory before agricultural land can lawfully be built on.
Occupancy Certificate (OC): An Occupancy Certificate is the local authority's certification that a completed building conforms to the sanctioned plan and applicable regulations and is fit for occupation.
RERA: RERA is the regulatory regime requiring most real-estate projects to be registered with a state authority that publishes project details, approvals, timelines and promoter track record.

Government portals

Bhoomi: Bhoomi is the Karnataka Revenue Department portal that issues the RTC (Pahani) and the mutation register for agricultural land in the state.
Kaveri Online Services: Kaveri Online Services is the Karnataka registration department portal used to obtain Encumbrance Certificates, certified copies of registered deeds, and guidance-value information.