JAIPUR: In a significant step to regulate real estate practices, the state government has halted the registration of properties associated with housing society “pattas.” This informal documentation has been the source of countless complaints, legal disputes, and negative audit findings over the years.
Sub-registrars are now forbidden from registering plots issued by private housing or cooperative societies, a regulation that experts believe should have been enacted a decade ago.
The prohibition aims to address the rise of unauthorized colonies, particularly in Jaipur’s outskirts like Ajmer Road and Kalwar Road, where societies have been selling plots without valid land-use conversions or sanctioned layouts.
The initiative intends to safeguard buyers who were led to think they purchased legitimate plots, only to realize that these pattas lacked official recognition and were not validated by the JDA, gram panchayats, or bodies responsible for essential services like drainage, water, and electricity supply.
Under the new regulations, all such land must undergo a 90-A conversion process, which requires the revenue department, town planning, and JDA to validate land-use, layout, road width standards, and compliance with the Jaipur Master Development Plan. Only after this certification will the Stamps & Registration Department accept any sale deeds.
Nagendra Chaudhary, a real estate specialist, stated, “The extent of the issue is evident in the volume of complaints regarding duplicate pattas, boundary discrepancies, colonies constructed over natural drains, and promised roads that aren’t actually there. These new rules will eliminate these problems.”
However, stakeholders pointed out that an individual plot holder cannot independently complete the 90-A process, as it necessitates applications from all landowners within the society. Additionally, society owners stand to gain from the ruling, since transferring plots will result in commissions they typically charge.
Meanwhile, lawyers involved in registration work protested on Thursday, halting their operations, claiming that suspending the registration of houses built on society pattas constitutes a serious injustice to the general public. “Around 80% of Jaipur is constructed on pattas issued to ordinary, low-income citizens. This decision effectively empowers land mafias and society owners to issue back-dated pattas at exorbitant prices,” remarked Gajraj Singh Rajawat, president of the District Bar Association, Jaipur.
He added that protests would continue until the government amends its regulations. Registration activities were suspended Thursday in the sub-registrar office of Jaipur district, as was judicial work across all revenue courts.
