Coming across several instances of land acquisition where the process of mutation kept pending for years thereby leading to disputes over the ownership of the land, the state government has asked departments concerned to complete the process in a time-bound manner.
Mutation delays leading to court disputes
Various government agencies, such as the highway authorities, railways, water resources, MIDC and MSRDC, engage in land acquisition for their projects. Even after the award is declared and the required land is handed over, the registration of the concerned agency’s name remains incomplete. Since the mutation is not done, the original owners’ names continue to remain in state land records, leading to court matters and disputes over ownership.
Orders issued after review meeting
Recently, several such cases surfaced during a discussion in a meeting between the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) officials and the chief secretary of Maharashtra. To speed up the process, the state settlement commissioner and the director of land records were asked to devise a procedure for the mutations. Based on his report, the revenue department has directed all the agencies concerned to submit the required documents for mutation to the respective deputy directors for land records within 15 days.
Strict deadlines for agencies
The land acquisition officers of the agencies will submit the documents with a copy of the same to the commissioner, says a government resolution (GR) issued on Friday. The department of land records has also been asked to complete the process by updating the records.
Preventing misuse and false ownership claims
In many cases, it is observed that the original title holders approach the court of law, exercising their ownership rights even after years have passed in the process of land acquisition.
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