Which are the documents required for scrutinity for BDA sites?

Whenever government acquires a land for development of a layout, the previous title is extinguished by law and title starts from the BDA’s acquisition of the property. The following documents should help in ascertaining the validity of the property papers.

i.    Primary documents of title for BDA properties

•    Allotment letter: Issued by the BDA in favour of the present owner if he/she is the original allottee

•    Possession letter: Issued by the BDA in favour of the present owner recording the handing over of the possession of the property to the present owner.

•    Lease-cum-sale deed executed and registered in favour of the allottee by the BDA.

•    Absolute Sale Deed executed and registered in favour of the allottee by the BDA with respect to the property after 10 years from the date of the original allotment.

•    Building Sanction Plan issued by the BDA (or by the BBMP if the building was constructed after it was handed over to the BBMP by the BDA) where a building has been constructed on the property.

The secondary documents of title for BDA sites are Khata, Tax paid receipts and EC.

a.    Khata certificate

A Khata certificate is obtained for the registration of any new property after paying the registration fee. This certificate mentions that a particular property number ‘N’ is held in the name of person ‘X’. This certificate is required for applying for a water connection, electricity connection, trade licence and building licence. The Khata certificate is given by the BBMP only to the owner of the property or to his legal heirs, and is used for the purpose of paying taxes.

b.    Khata extract

A Khata extract is a document issued by the BBMP that states the name of the property owner, details of the property, such as plot size, built-up area etc. The owner can obtain this document on payment of `100/- along with a requisition letter to the Assistant Revenue Officer at the BBMP’s zonal office for the area where the property falls. Only owners can collect Khata extracts.

The Khata certificate and Khata extract are unofficially together called the ‘A Khata’.

•    The ‘B Khata’

In order to include unauthorised layouts, revenue sites and buildings constructed in violation of by-laws into the property tax net, a provision was made under the Section 108A of the Karnataka Municipal Council Act. Under the new provision, the BBMP could collect property tax from such properties. The details of the property tax collected from such a building or apartment or site are maintained in a separate register, called the B register.

•    Tax paid receipts

These are receipts issued by the BBMP, BDA or village panchayat, recording the payment of taxes for the property.

•    Encumbrance certificate

The Encumbrance certificate (EC) is a record that shows all the registered transactions pertaining to a property in a particular time period. It is issued by the sub-registrar’s office under whose jurisdiction the property falls. ECs are issued via Form 15 or Form 16. If mortgage, sale or any other deeds with respect to a property are registered in the specified period of time, then Form No. 15 is issued with the details of each transaction. If there have been no registered transactions during the specified period of time, the sub-registrar will issue a Form 16. While buying a property, you should insist on an EC for a period of at least 30 years.

Though EC is helpful in ensuring a clear and marketable title for the property, it does not provide the complete picture. Certain documents/transactions need not be registered, and these are not shown in the EC. Such documents and transactions include unregistered wills, unregistered power of attorney, unregistered agreement of sale and unregistered mortgages. Apart from these, litigation in courts and tax liabilities are also not shown in ECs. So while buying a property, do not rely solely on ECs for a clear title and look at other secondary documents.

A thorough scrutiny and verification of the above-mentioned documents will enable you to ensure that the property that you are acquiring has a clear, marketable title and will help you to avoid fraudulent sales and lengthy litigation.