Conclusive Land Titling

In Context- The Centre wants to reform the country’s land markets through a fundamental legal and procedural shift in how land titles are awarded.

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•  In 2020, the NITI Aayog took steps to initiate land reforms.
•  A Model Bill on Conclusive Land Titling was sent to States and Union Territories last June seeking their comments.
  •  In September, after many States failed to send in their feedback, the Centre warned that their agreement would be presumed.

About Land Titling

• It is a form of land reform in which private individuals and families are given formal property rights for land which they have previously occupied informally or used on the basis of customary land tenure

• Present System
  • India currently follows a system of presumptive land titling which means that land records are maintained, with information on possession, that is determined through details of past transactions.
  • Ownership is established on the basis of current possession.
  •  Registration of land is actually a registration of transactions, such as sale deeds, records of inheritance, mortgage and lease.
    • Holding registration papers does not actually involve the government or the legal framework guaranteeing the ownership title of the land.

What is Conclusive Land Titling?

• In this system, the government provides guaranteed titles and compensation in case of any ownership disputes.

• Under a conclusive land titling system, land records designate actual ownership.
•  The title is granted by the government, which takes the responsibility for accuracy.
• Once a title is granted, any other claimant will have to settle disputes with the government, not the titleholder.

Model Bill on Conclusive Land Titling

• The Bill circulated by the NITI Aayog in 2020 calls for Land Authorities to be set up by each State government, which will appoint a Title Registration Officer (TRO) to prepare and publish a draft list of land titles based on existing records and documents.
• This will be considered a valid notice to all potential claimants interested in the property, who will have to file their claims or objections within a set period of time.
• If disputing claims are received, the TRO will verify all the relevant documents and refer the case to a Land Dispute Resolution Officer (LDRO) for resolution.
  • However, disputes which are already pending in courts cannot be resolved in this way.
• Having considered and resolved all the disputed claims, the Land Authority will publish a Record of Titles.
• Over a three-year period, these titles and the decisions of the TRO and the LDRO can be challenged before Land Titling Appellate Tribunals, which will be set up under the law.
• After a three-year period, entries in the Record of Titles will be considered conclusive proof of ownership. Further appeals can only be taken up in High Courts.

Significance /Need

• The lower litigation-The conclusive system will drastically lower litigation related to land.
  • According to a 2007 World Bank study on ‘Land Policies for growth and poverty reduction, land-related disputes accounted for two-thirds of all pending court cases in India.
  •  A NITI Aayog study on strengthening arbitration estimated that disputes on land or real estate take an average time of 20 years in the courts to be resolved.
• Risk Mitigation: Once conclusive titling is in place, investors who want to purchase land for business activities will be able to do so without facing the constant risk that their owners may be questioned and their entire investment may go to waste.
• Avoids costly delays and inefficiency: Land disputes and unclear titling also create hurdles for infrastructure development and housing construction, leading to costly delays and inefficiency.
• Reduction in Ambiguity: Right now, because land titles are based on transactions, people have to keep the entire chain of transaction records, and a dispute on any link in that chain causes ambiguity in ownership.
  • • Ambiguity in ownership also results in a black market for land transactions, which deprives the government of taxes.

Challenges

• Land records have not been updated for decades, especially in rural and semi-urban areas.
•  Land records are often in the name of the grandparents of the current owner, with no proof of inheritance. Unless they are based on updated records, conclusive land titles could create even more problems,”
• However, local governments have not been provided with the resources or manpower to conduct such surveys.
  • If surveys are not conducted, the onus falls on village claimants, many of whom have no access to documentation, to proactively challenge the titling during the three-year period.

Way Forward

• Comprehensive village-level surveys with community involvement are a necessary precursor to the land titling process.
  • Relying on current records or even satellite imagery will not provide the same accuracy as actual, on-the-ground, local surveys.

• However, adopting a conclusive system of titling will require undertaking several measures.
  • All existing land records will have to be updated to ensure that they are free of any encumbrances.
  •  Information on land records, which is currently spread across multiple departments, will have to be consolidated.
  •  Further, several changes in existing laws that govern registration and transfer of land, and institutional changes in the maintenance of land records will also have to be done.

Source :TH