Tamil Nadu Patta Pass Book Act, 1983 (1986)

What the Act covers

The Tamil Nadu Patta Pass Book Act, 1983 applies throughout Tamil Nadu and provides for patta pass books for agricultural landowners. Agricultural land includes land used or capable of being used for agriculture, horticulture, forests, gardens and plantations, but excludes house sites.

Agriculture includes crop cultivation, horticulture, grazing, manure crops, dairy farming, poultry farming, livestock breeding and growing trees. An owner may hold land individually, jointly or in common and may be a full owner or limited owner. Mortgagees, lessees and tenants are not treated as owners for this purpose.

Issue and contents of a patta pass book

The Tahsildar must issue a patta pass book to an owner who applies. A Tahsildar includes an authorised Revenue department officer not below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar. Each taluk is a unit for issuing pass books.

Key provisions include:

• The Tahsildar must acknowledge an application.
• Interested persons must receive a reasonable opportunity to present their claims orally or in writing.
• A rejected application or claim must be supported by written reasons.
• The pass book records the survey number or subdivision number, land extent, local name, and the owner's name and address.
• Corresponding details must be entered in the Register of Patta Pass Book maintained by the Tahsildar.
• Entries and certified copies are presumed correct until disproved or lawfully replaced.
• Entries are prima facie evidence of the named person's title to the recorded land, free from prior encumbrances unless the pass book states otherwise.

Transfers, later changes and loans

The Tamil Nadu Patta Pass Book Act, 1983 requires the relevant patta pass book to be produced when registering a sale, gift, mortgage, exchange, settlement or other transfer of agricultural land. After registration, the registering authority records the transfer and reports it to the Tahsildar, who updates the register and pass book or issues a new pass book after subdivision if necessary.

A person acquiring ownership rights through succession, inheritance, partition, purchase, or a court or government order must report the acquisition in writing to the Tahsildar within three months. This reporting duty does not apply when the right comes through a registered document.

Owners seeking a land secured loan must produce the patta pass book to the credit agency. Loan, charge or mortgage details are entered in the pass book and reported to the Tahsildar. Applications may also be made to modify entries following a death, transfer of interest or other later change, and certified copies may be obtained from the Tahsildar.