Nagpur: The Maharashtra govt on Tuesday approved a sweeping reform to regularise thousands of small land transactions carried out in violation of the state's fragmentation law, granting long-awaited legal status to holdings that remained in limbo for decades.The revenue department issued a new operating framework that allows these plots to be regularised without any fee, a move expected to benefit nearly 60 lakh property holders.
Until now, citizens seeking regularisation were required to pay 25% of the land's current market value as a penalty, which was later reduced to 5%. Even then, uptake remained weak. The state's decision to waive all charges, officials said, aims to finally close a long-standing regulatory gap that left millions without secure property rights.
The decision, released through an official gazette on November 3, applies to transactions conducted between November 15, 1965, and October 15, 2024. Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the initiative would resolve a long-pending issue that affected families across urban and semi-urban Maharashtra. "This historic decision ensures that citizens will no longer face legal obstacles because of old technicalities. Nearly three crore people stand to gain from it," he said.
Under the framework, the long-standing remark "transaction in violation of the fragmentation law" will be removed from land records. Authorities have been instructed to update the 7/12 extract to reflect lawful ownership. If a mutation entry was earlier cancelled, it will now be reconsidered and approved, placing the buyer's name in the primary kabjedar' (occupant) column. Those whose names appear in the ‘other rights' section will be shifted to the main occupancy record.
The state clarified that once a plot is regularised and the buyer's name is officially recorded, future sale or transfer will carry no restrictions. The move brings significant relief to middle-class households in expanding towns and peri-urban regions, where small parcels often lacked formal status despite decades of occupancy.