Recently, led by Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, the Rajasthan government set in motion policy change, which if chased to its logical wrap up, could amend the existing theory of land and property possession in the country. The Rajasthan Urban Land Bill 2016 (Certification of Titles) which mainly clears the floor for building a guaranteed titling regime in the state. Till now all the states including Rajasthan has presumed ownership as said and described by Swati Ramanathan the urban advisor and planner to the government of Rajasthan. The title in our ownership is actually a historical report of a property transaction and not possession rights and it because of this that why there are so many of these dealings dubious and uncertain and come to a halt in court.
Swati Ramanathan said, “The notion that a ‘sale deed’ is proof of ownership is misplaced. The registration of property at the stamps and registration department merely acknowledges that a transaction has taken place between two parties. It does not verify or guarantee that the seller is indeed the indisputable owner, nor that the buyer is now indisputably the new owner. It does not guarantee the existing nature of rights to the property, or that the property has no existing restrictions on rights, or that it has no existing mortgage or lien on it, no disputes or litigations in court.”
The state government has been successful in passing the Rajasthan urban Land Bill 2016 (Certification of Titles) in the state assembly. Now, the state residents who are living in the urban areas and in flats and homes administrated by the state development authorities and/or the municipalities can own the place by paying a nominal fee to the government and receiving an ownership certificate in return. The nominal fee decided by the government is 0.5% of the land rate as determined by the district level committee.
Additional Secretary of the Urban Development and housing in the state government, Ashok Jain said, “The Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Bill is a futuristic Bill. It will help in ease of business as buyers will not have to go into the entire chain of documents. The state will provide an ownership guarantee certificate and will stand by it.” He further added, “It will also reduce litigation and add revenue to the state government.”
Rajasthan has become the first state in the republic of India to pass the land titling law. The government will set up an authority similar to that of license issuing which will seek all the necessary documents from the landowners and will verify them. The authority will initially issue a provisional certificate of which the state will take no guarantee. If there would be no objections thereafter, then the authority will issue a permanent ownership certificate, a map and a state guarantee. Along with this the government through the Land Bill 2016 has also given itself a power to enter any land premises in the state for regular checkups and verification of the ownership after giving a prior notice to the owner.
Appreciating the efforts done by the Rajasthan Government, the chairman of CII’s Rajasthan Chapter, SK Poddar said, “It is a good move. Land and water are the biggest problems in the state. The present government seems serious and I am sure it will implement this Bill at the earliest”.
This is seen as a key move towards land reforms in the state as experts believe that this bill will give a clear title to the owners which would eventually trim down litigations in the court.
