Property Mutation (Dakhil-Kharij / Namantaran) in Uttarakhand

What is dakhil-kharij in Uttarakhand?

Dakhil-kharij in Uttarakhand is the process of striking out the old holder's name and entering the new holder's name in the land records after a sale, an inheritance, a gift, a partition, an exchange or a court decree. The Hindi term used across tehsils is namantaran, and inheritance mutation specifically is called virasat.

Uttarakhand's core land record is the khatauni, the record of rights that lists, for each khata in a village, the tenure holders and the khasra numbers and areas they hold. The khasra is the plot-wise register, and the village map (naksha) shows the plots on the ground. Together these are what a bank, a buyer, a court or a compensation officer will look at.

The distinction that costs Uttarakhand buyers the most is between registration and mutation. Registering the sale deed at the Sub-Registrar records the transaction and pays the stamp duty. It does not change the khatauni. Until a dakhil-kharij order is passed at the tehsil and the khatauni is updated, the seller's name still stands in the record of rights, and that blocks agricultural loans, government compensation, building permission and any onward sale.

Which department handles mutation in Uttarakhand?

The Board of Revenue, Uttarakhand is the apex authority for land records in the state, and the Board's Land Records Computerization programme runs the public Bhulekh portal at bhulekh.uk.gov.in, maintained with technical support from the National Informatics Centre, Uttarakhand State Unit, Dehradun. The portal openly carries a Tehsil Mutation login, which is the channel through which the tehsil records mutation changes into the computerised record of rights.

On the ground the chain of officers is:

• the Patwari / Lekhpal (in the hill districts the Rajaswa Patwari), who holds the village record, reports on the ground position and prepares the mutation report;
• the Kanungo / Revenue Inspector, who supervises the Patwari's report;
• the Tehsildar, who is the mutation authority and passes the dakhil-kharij order, sitting as a revenue court where the matter is contested;
• the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) and then the District Magistrate / Collector, who hear appeals;
• the Board of Revenue, Uttarakhand, at the top of the revenue hierarchy.

Uttarakhand's hill districts add a real complication that plains-state guides miss: much hill land is held under old settlement records with fragmented khasra numbers and joint khatas running back generations, so a hill mutation often requires the family tree to be settled before any single plot can be transferred.

Who can apply for mutation in Uttarakhand?

You can apply if:

• You have bought land under a registered sale deed and want the khatauni in your name.
• You are a legal heir of a deceased tenure holder, applying for virasat.
• You received the land under a registered gift deed or a release deed from a co-sharer.
• You are a party to a registered partition of a joint khata.
• You hold a court decree, an award or an auction certificate changing rights in the land.
• You are a registered power-of-attorney holder acting for any of the above.

You cannot apply; or the mutation will not be ordered; if:

• The transfer rests on an unregistered agreement, receipt or oral understanding. Uttarakhand will not mutate on an unregistered document.
• The sale needed prior permission that was never obtained. Uttarakhand restricts purchase of agricultural land by outsiders and applies land-ceiling and land-use conditions; a deed executed in breach of these will be registered and still refused mutation.
• The land is government, forest, van panchayat or nazul land wrongly shown as private.
• The matter is already pending before a revenue court or a civil court.
• You are a stranger to the record with neither a registered instrument nor an heirship claim.

How to apply for property mutation in Uttarakhand

1. Pull the current khatauni first. Open bhulekh.uk.gov.in, select district, tehsil and village, and search by khasra number or by the recorded holder's name. Note the khata number, the khasra numbers, the areas and every co-sharer's name.
2. Register the deed at the Sub-Registrar's office, paying the applicable stamp duty. Mutation always follows registration.
3. File the mutation application at the tehsil having jurisdiction over the village, addressed to the Tehsildar. Attach the registered deed, the existing khatauni extract, identity proof, and, for virasat, the death certificate and a declaration naming all legal heirs. Ask at the counter whether a court-fee stamp is required on the application, and what value.
4. Take a dated acknowledgement with the case or application number written on it. This number, the khata number and the khasra numbers are the three things every subsequent enquiry runs on.
5. The Patwari reports. The village Patwari verifies possession on the ground and reports through the Kanungo to the Tehsildar. Be reachable; a Patwari who cannot find the applicant is a common cause of delay.
6. Notice is issued to interested parties, the seller, the co-sharers on the khata and, where relevant, adjoining holders, so that any objection can be raised.
7. Attend any hearing. If no objection comes, the Tehsildar passes the dakhil-kharij order on the report. If an objection is filed, the file becomes a contested revenue case with dates and evidence.
8. Collect the order and ask for the khatauni to be corrected against it.
9. Verify online. Pull a fresh khatauni from bhulekh.uk.gov.in. Your name in the tenure holder column against the right khasra numbers is the only proof that the mutation actually landed in the record.

How do I check my mutation status in Uttarakhand?

• On bhulekh.uk.gov.in — select the district, tehsil and village and read the current khatauni. This is the definitive check.
• At the tehsil, quoting the case or application number from your acknowledgement, to see the stage: Patwari report pending, notice issued, hearing fixed, or order passed.
• With the Patwari of the village, for the ground-verification stage, which is usually where a file sits longest.
• At the SDM's office, where a file has been pending far beyond the normal course or an objection has stalled it.

Uttarakhand does not, at the time of writing, publish a public citizen-facing online mutation filing counter of the kind some states run; the Bhulekh portal's mutation channel is a Tehsil Mutation login used by the tehsil staff, and the citizen-facing part of the portal is the public record of rights. Treat any website that offers to "file your Uttarakhand mutation online" for a fee as a private intermediary, not a government service.

Does a mutation entry expire in Uttarakhand?

No. Once the Tehsildar's dakhil-kharij order is carried into the khatauni, the entry stands until the next change of right in the land. There is no renewal and no expiry.

What does need refreshing is the extract. Banks, buyers and courts in Uttarakhand routinely ask for a khatauni pulled within the last few weeks, because a printout from a year ago says nothing about entries made since; including a mortgage or a fresh sale by a co-sharer.

Why do mutation applications fail in Uttarakhand?

• Unregistered document. An agreement to sell or a notarised paper produces no mutation.
• Sale in breach of the restriction on land purchase by outsiders, or beyond the permitted area, without the required permission.
• Khasra number mismatch between the deed and the khatauni, especially in hill villages where numbering from an old settlement does not match modern usage.
• Joint khata not partitioned. Selling a defined plot out of an undivided joint khata without a partition is the classic Uttarakhand tangle.
• Incomplete heir declaration in a virasat case, omitting a daughter, a predeceased son's children or a second marriage.
• Objection by a co-sharer during the notice period.
• Land shown as van panchayat, forest or government land in the record.
• No possession on the ground when the Patwari inspects.

What does mutation cost in Uttarakhand, and what should you refuse to pay?

Mutation in Uttarakhand costs only the fee notified at the tehsil counter, taken against a printed receipt, plus a court-fee stamp or stamp paper where the application format requires one. Viewing land records on bhulekh.uk.gov.in is free, and the Board of Revenue does not charge for a public khatauni view.

Agents sitting outside tehsil gates across Uttarakhand offer to "get the dakhil-kharij done" for several thousand rupees. They file the same application with the same papers before the same Tehsildar. There is no paid fast track, because the Patwari report and the notice to interested parties are steps no officer can skip, and no amount of money will produce a mutation order on an unregistered deed or on land the buyer was never permitted to buy. File it yourself, pay only against a receipt, and never let an intermediary hold your original sale deed.

Grievance and escalation route in Uttarakhand

• Patwari / Lekhpal of the village, for a stalled ground report.
• Kanungo / Revenue Inspector: supervises the Patwari.
• Tehsildar, the mutation authority; the first office to write to about delay.
• Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM): appeal against the Tehsildar's mutation order.
• District Magistrate / Collector, next level of appeal and revision.
• Board of Revenue, Uttarakhand. The apex revenue authority for land records and the final revenue-side forum.
• The district's public grievance portal (SAMADHAN), listed among district services in Uttarakhand, for a written complaint about administrative delay.

Carry the case number, the khata number and the khasra numbers to every office. Without those three, no Uttarakhand revenue office can trace your file.