Registration of Assigned and Surplus Lands

What the document does

The Land Reforms Department communication, Ref. No. F1/965/2012 (L.Ref), dated 2 February 2012, asks the Inspector General of Registration to issue instructions to district Registrars not to register transfers of certain assigned and surplus lands. It seeks to prevent prohibited transfers and reduce disputes involving purchasers, assignees and government authorities.

The communication is a request for registration instructions. The source does not include any later instruction or response from the Inspector General of Registration.

Land covered

The Land Reforms Department communication covers:

• Surplus agricultural land declared from landowners' holdings under the Tamil Nadu Land Reforms [Fixation of Ceiling on Land] Act, 1961, as amended, and later assigned to landless agricultural labourers.
• Assigned land that remains within the applicable period during which transfer is prohibited.
• Land shown as surplus land in village accounts under the land reforms Acts and Rules.

The communication states that assigned lands cannot be transferred by assignees for 20 years from the date of assignment, with effect from 12 November 1987. It identifies the earlier restriction as 15 years.

Why registration restrictions were requested

The Principal Secretary and Commissioner of Land Reforms explains that some assignees sold assigned land before the transfer restriction expired. The existing provisions allow the responsible statutory authority to resume such land to the Government and reassign it to another eligible person.

Purchasers may therefore lose land even after paying the original assignee. According to the communication, affected purchasers have filed appeals or revisions to retain the land, causing hardship to implementing authorities and delays in completing cases.

Who may be affected

The requested registration restriction may affect:

• Assignees seeking to transfer land before the applicable restriction expires.
• Buyers considering land originally assigned under the land ceiling process.
• Buyers of land recorded as surplus in village accounts.
• District Registrars handling documents relating to these categories.

Joint Commissioners and Assistant Commissioners of Land Reforms in the districts were instructed to provide the respective Registrars with lists of assigned lands from 1991. A prospective buyer should therefore check whether the land is assigned land, remains within its transfer restriction, or appears as surplus land in the village accounts.