Whenever one decides to purchase a plot of village land (agricultural land) in Maharashtra, he is shown the map of the plot of land with all sorts of markings on it. Most of the times, its a hand drawn sketch with a cursory mention of the scaling ratio or co-ordinates. It also shows the survey number (गट नंबर ) and हिस्सा number of the particular plot along with adjacent hissa numbers (sub division) of a particular Survey (गट) Number.

But its impossible to know whether the location, demarcations and measurements shown in the 7/12 are the same on the ground. The only way to make sure of the same are via a Land Survey (मोजणी) application with the Deputy Superintendent of Land Records which exists in every Tehsil in Maharashtra. If its not the Deputy Superintendent of Land records, then it could be the Survey Tehsildar or the Survey Officer working under the Tehsildar (land revenue officer). If information or contact details are not available online, one can get in touch with the Tehsildar’s office and they should guide you appropriately.

In this case one needs to submit the following documents in physical form at the Deputy inspector of Land Records or Survey Tehsildar in person :

• Survey (मोजणी) application along with Rs 5 court fee stamp and passport size photo of land owner (villager). A buyer cannot apply for survey of land. It has to be in the name of the land owner.
• 7/12 copy (Original and Latest)
• Survey book map (गट बुक मैप ) (Shown above)
• Names of owners of adjoining plots along with addresses. These names should be available with the village Talathi.
• Copy of Adhaar and Pan card (Self attested)

These documents have to be submitted to the Land Survey office in person.
The Deputy Superintendent will feed the data into the online system and the date of survey will be obtained.
Land owner must be present on site on the day of the survey.
The whole process could take a weeks time.

Charges and Fee for Govt Land Survey (By Tehsil Office)

Private survey companies charge approx. Rs 10,000 for the same and their reports are not accepted as evidence in case of a dispute.

Surveys are faster in dry seasons and take time or may be completely halted during the Monsoons.

Merely checking 7/12 or getting a survey of a plot done is no guarantee of a clean and clear title. There may still be court cases and litigation on the plot. Uran is notorious for such issues. Farmers over there have sold their plots or signed on agreements with builders and are facing multiple cases in the courts. But they wont tell you this. Even if you check the land records or talathi records, you wont find evidence of any litigation cause they don\’t have any mention of court cases.

Stamp duty on Agricultural Land is 4% in Maharashtra

A format of the Village Survey Application Form is given below

Once you sign the sale agreement and register it, you must get fencing done on the plot to prevent encroachment by trespassers…or else the entire exercise will turn fruitless.