Property Mutation (Dakhil-Kharij) in Bihar

What is dakhil-kharij (property mutation) in Bihar?

Property mutation in Bihar is called dakhil-kharij; literally "entry and deletion", which describes exactly what happens: the seller's jamabandi is reduced or closed to the extent of the land sold, and a fresh jamabandi is opened in the buyer's name. It is administered by the Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Government of Bihar, whose office is at the Old Secretariat, Bailey Road, Patna 800015, and it is decided at circle level by the Circle Officer (Anchal Adhikari).

Bihar has moved this process almost entirely online. The department's Bihar Bhumi portal at biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in lists "online dakhil-kharij" as a headline citizen service, along with online mutation status, Parimarjan Plus (correction of digitised jamabandi), land possession certificate (LPC) applications and their status, land use conversion (bhumi samparivartan), digitised land record viewing, and revenue court case status and cause lists. Access is through login with your mobile number, with new-user registration on the same page.

The reason dakhil-kharij matters more in Bihar than a buyer usually expects is the lagan, the annual land revenue. Until a jamabandi exists in your name, you cannot pay lagan on the land, and without lagan receipts in your name you will struggle to sell it on, mortgage it, or claim compensation or crop benefits. A registered kewala alone does not get you there.

Who can and who cannot apply for dakhil-kharij in Bihar?

You can apply if you have acquired land in Bihar through:

• A registered sale deed (kewala) in your favour.
• Inheritance on the death of a recorded raiyat, where you are a legal heir.
• A registered gift deed (dan patra) or a will that has taken effect.
• A partition (batwara) among co-sharers, whether by registered deed or family settlement recognised by the revenue authority.
• A court decree declaring your right in the land.
• Government settlement (bandobasti) or allotment of land, where a jamabandi has to be opened accordingly.

You cannot apply, or the mutation will be rejected, if:

• You hold only an agreement to sell, a power of attorney, or an unregistered writing, these do not transfer title and Bihar circle offices will not mutate on them.
• The land is government, gairmazarua aam, bhoodan or forest land described as private in the deed. Bihar circle offices check this specifically.
• The seller has no jamabandi for the khata and khesra sold, so the chain is broken and the seller's own mutation must be done first.
• The lagan is in arrears on the existing jamabandi.
• There is a stay order or a pending title suit, or the land is already the subject of a revenue court proceeding.
• The khata, khesra, thana number or rakba (area) in the deed does not match the record. The commonest cause of rejection in Bihar.

A sanctioned dakhil-kharij is not a title deed. It records what the revenue department accepts about who holds the land and pays revenue on it. Title disputes are decided by civil courts, not by the Circle Officer.

How to apply for property mutation online in Bihar: step by step

1. Register the deed before the Sub-Registrar, paying stamp duty and the registration fee, and collect the registered kewala with its deed number, date and registry office. For an inheritance case, collect instead the death certificate and the vanshavali listing all heirs.
2. Look up the existing jamabandi free of charge on biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in and confirm that the khata, khesra, mauza, halka, thana number and rakba match your deed exactly. Any mismatch found now saves a rejection later.
3. Log in to biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in with your mobile number. New users register on the same page. Keep the phone with you. The portal sends OTPs, status changes and hearing notices to that number.
4. Open the "online dakhil-kharij" service and fill the mutation application: applicant details, district, anchal, mauza, halka, thana number, khata, khesra, area being mutated, and the registered document's number and date.
5. Upload the documents, the registered deed, the current lagan receipt, your Aadhaar, a passport-size photograph, and for an inheritance the death certificate and heir proof.
6. Pay the mutation charge shown on the payment screen and submit. Pay only the amount the portal itself displays and generates a receipt for.
7. Note the case number. This is the handle for everything afterwards, status checks, hearing notices, appeals. Without it neither the portal nor the circle office can locate your file.
8. Attend the circle office when called. The Halka Karmchari reports on the plot and possession, the Revenue Officer processes the file, and the Circle Officer passes the sanction or rejection order after hearing the parties where there is any objection.
9. Check the new jamabandi on the portal after sanction, and start paying lagan against it in your own name.

If you are not comfortable filing yourself, a Common Service Centre / Vasudha Kendra will file the application for you at the counter charge displayed there. That charge is for the operator's service, not an additional government fee.

How do I check my mutation status in Bihar?

Bihar Bhumi carries an explicit "online mutation status" (ऑनलाइन म्यूटेशन की स्थिति देखें) service. Log in with your registered mobile number and enter your case number, district and circle to see the current stage, under process at the Halka Karmchari, listed for hearing, sanctioned, or rejected with reasons.

The same portal separately tracks:

• Parimarjan Plus application status, for corrections to an already digitised jamabandi.
• LPC application status, for land possession certificates.
• Revenue court case status and cause lists — useful when your mutation has become contested and moved into a revenue court proceeding before the DCLR.

Checking status is free. No one should charge you to read a status screen.

Dakhil-kharij or Parimarjan Plus, which one do I need?

This is the distinction most Bihar applicants get wrong, and filing the wrong one loses weeks.

• Use dakhil-kharij when ownership has changed. A sale, an inheritance, a gift, a partition. You want a new jamabandi opened.
• Use Parimarjan Plus when the jamabandi is already yours in substance but the digitised data is wrong: misspelt name, wrong khata or khesra number, wrong rakba, wrong thana number, or a jamabandi that was digitised with an error during the record computerisation drive.

Parimarjan Plus corrects data. Dakhil-kharij transfers a holding. They are separate services on biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in and are decided on different footings.

What does mutation cost in Bihar, and who should I not pay?

The mutation charge is the amount the Bihar Bhumi portal itself displays at the payment step and generates a receipt against. It is a small statutory sum, entirely separate from the stamp duty and registration fee you paid at registration, which are the large amounts in the transaction.

Everything else on the portal: viewing jamabandi, checking the mutation status, viewing revenue court cause lists: is free.

Bihar has a persistent problem with middlemen outside anchal offices who quote thousands of rupees to "get the dakhil-kharij passed". They hold no power the Halka Karmchari and Circle Officer do not already exercise on the same documents you would submit yourself. Paying a revenue official for a sanction is a bribe and is punishable. The correct response is a written grievance to the DCLR or the District Magistrate, or a complaint through the Bihar Lok Shikayat Nivaran Adhikar Adhiniyam (Right to Public Grievance Redressal) system, which gives every citizen a time-bound hearing on an unresolved administrative grievance.

Why do Bihar mutations get rejected?

• Khata or khesra mismatch between the deed and the digitised record. The single most frequent reason.
• The seller had no jamabandi for what he sold, a broken chain that must be repaired upstream first.
• Lagan in arrears on the existing jamabandi.
• Government, gairmazarua aam, bhoodan or forest land wrongly described as private.
• Missing heirs in an inheritance mutation, leaving out a daughter, a widow or a sibling.
• Objection filed by a co-sharer, neighbour or the original raiyat's family, moving the case into a contested hearing.
• Rakba discrepancy, the deed conveys more area than the seller's jamabandi holds.
• Wrong service used, a data error filed as a mutation instead of through Parimarjan Plus.

A rejection order carries its reason. Where the defect is documentary, cure it and file again. Where you dispute the order itself, appeal to the DCLR of the sub-division, and beyond that to the Additional Collector; revenue court case status and cause lists for such proceedings are published on Bihar Bhumi.

Does a Bihar mutation expire?

No. Once a jamabandi is opened in your name it stays there until the land next changes hands. There is no renewal.

What does continue is the annual lagan payable against that jamabandi. Pay it every year and keep the receipts; in Bihar, a run of lagan receipts in your own name is among the strongest practical evidence of your holding, and the first thing a buyer or a bank will ask to see alongside the deed.

Where do I complain if my dakhil-kharij is stuck?

• The Circle Officer (Anchal Adhikari) of the anchal, who is the deciding authority.
• The DCLR (Deputy Collector Land Reforms) of the sub-division, for appeals and for delay at circle level.
• The District Magistrate / Additional Collector of the district.
• The Revenue and Land Reforms Department, Old Secretariat, Bailey Road, Patna 800015.
• The Bihar Lok Shikayat Nivaran system, for a tracked, time-bound hearing on administrative inaction.

Quote your case number, khata, khesra, mauza, halka, thana number, anchal and district in every complaint. A grievance without these cannot be matched to a file and will be closed without action.