Property Mutation (Dakhil-Kharij) in West Bengal

Property mutation in West Bengal: commonly called dakhil-kharij or simply "mutation": is the process of getting your name written into the Record of Rights maintained by the Directorate of Land Records and Survey after you buy, inherit or receive land. Registration of the deed and mutation of the record are two separate acts by two separate offices. The Additional District Sub-Registrar registers the deed; the Block Land and Land Reforms Officer changes the khatian. Until the second one happens, the state's own land database still shows the previous owner.

What is dakhil-kharij and which department does it in West Bengal?

Dakhil-kharij in West Bengal is handled by the Land and Land Reforms and Refugee Relief and Rehabilitation Department through its Directorate of Land Records and Survey, and delivered to citizens through the Banglarbhumi portal at banglarbhumi.gov.in. The department's records are organised by mouza and JL (Jurisdiction List) number, then by khatian number for the holding and dag number for the individual plot. A mutation case changes which khatian a given dag sits under, and creates a fresh khatian in the new owner's name where required.

West Bengal's land record has a history that matters here. Older records survive as CS, RS and LR khatians, and the current live record for most of the state is the LR (Land Reforms) khatian. When you apply for mutation you are asking for the LR record to be amended. Banglarbhumi carries the digitised versions of these records, along with the mouza maps, and the mutation case is worked through the same system by the Revenue Inspector, the Amin and the BL&LRO.

Who can apply for mutation in West Bengal, and who cannot?

Any person who has acquired an interest in land in West Bengal through a registered deed of sale, gift, exchange or partition can apply for mutation. Legal heirs of a deceased recorded owner can apply for mutation by inheritance, supported by the death certificate and proof of heirship. A purchaser of a flat can apply for mutation of the undivided share of land where the land record permits, though in many multi-storey buildings the land continues to stand in the name of the society or the owner of the plot.

You cannot apply for mutation on the strength of an unregistered agreement to sell, a power of attorney alone, a photocopy of a deed, or a receipt of payment. You cannot mutate land that is the subject of a pending title suit or a stay order from a civil court, and you cannot mutate land whose transfer itself is barred, for example a transfer that breaches ceiling limits under the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, or a transfer of land recorded in the name of a Scheduled Tribe person to a non-tribal without the permission the law requires. Vested land, khas land and land recorded in the state's name cannot be mutated into a private name through this route at all.

How to apply for property mutation in West Bengal online

1. Open banglarbhumi.gov.in and create a citizen account under "Sign Up", giving your name, address, mobile number and email. Banglarbhumi enforces an email OTP at login, so use an email address you can actually open.
2. Log in and go to "Citizen Services", then choose the online application section and select the mutation application.
3. Fill in the applicant details, name, father's or husband's name, full address, mobile number, PAN or Aadhaar as asked, and upload your photograph.
4. Enter the property details exactly as they appear in the deed and the khatian: district, block, mouza, JL number, khatian number, dag number and the area being transferred.
5. Enter the transfer details — deed number, year, and the Additional District Sub-Registrar office where it was registered: or, for inheritance, the details of the deceased recorded owner.
6. Upload the scanned documents: the registered deed, the seller's or deceased owner's khatian, your identity proof, and the death certificate and heirship proof in inheritance cases.
7. Submit the application and note the application number that the portal returns.
8. Pay the mutation charge through the payment link, which takes you to GRIPS, the Government Receipt Portal System. Keep the GRN and download the acknowledgement.
9. The paid application moves to the BL&LRO of the block for processing. Notices are issued, the Revenue Inspector reports on the ground position, and the order is passed if no valid objection stands.

How do I apply offline at the BL&LRO or a Bangla Sahayata Kendra?

1. Visit the Block Land and Land Reforms Office having jurisdiction over the mouza, or the nearest Bangla Sahayata Kendra (BSK), which West Bengal operates as an assisted-service counter for state e-services including Banglarbhumi.
2. Carry the original registered deed with a photocopy set, the existing khatian, your identity proof, the khajna receipt and, for inheritance, the death certificate and heirship documents.
3. Have the application filled in on Banglarbhumi at the counter. The offline route feeds the same online system, so you still receive an application number.
4. Pay the fee at the counter and collect the acknowledgement slip carrying the application number and the GRN.

How much does mutation cost in West Bengal?

The mutation charge in West Bengal varies with the classification of the land and its location, and Banglarbhumi carries its own fee calculator for exactly this reason. Agricultural land, non-agricultural land, commercial land and industrial land attract different rates, and land in a gram panchayat area, a municipal area and a development authority area attract different rates again. Because the figure is computed from your own plot details, treat the amount the portal displays before payment as the correct one and pay it through GRIPS only. Land revenue (khajna) arrears, where any exist, are separate from the mutation charge and can be cleared through the e-Khajna service on the same portal.

State the fee position plainly to anyone who offers to "arrange" the mutation: the process is free to file and costs only the government fee that Banglarbhumi calculates and GRIPS collects. Middlemen who quote a lump sum for "BL&LRO expenses" are charging for something the state does not bill. If any official asks for money outside the GRIPS challan, use the grievance link on Banglarbhumi.

How long does mutation take and how do I check the status?

Banglarbhumi's "Query Status" service takes your application or case number and shows the current stage of the case, and the portal also offers a location-wise service status view for those who want to see how the block is performing. Because a mutation case involves service of notice on the recorded owner and a waiting period for objections, the time taken depends on whether anyone contests. Uncontested cases with clean documents move fastest; cases with a break in the chain of khatians, a boundary dispute or a co-sharer objection go into hearings.

Once the case is disposed of, the updated record is visible on Banglarbhumi under the property information services, and you can obtain the new khatian and the mutation certificate from the portal. Check the mouza, JL number, khatian number, dag number and area on the new record character by character against your deed, because a single wrong digit in a dag number will follow you into every future transaction and loan application.

Why do West Bengal mutation applications get rejected?

Mutation applications in West Bengal are most often rejected or kept pending because the chain of records is broken. An earlier sale or an earlier inheritance in the same plot was never mutated, so the seller's own name is not on the LR khatian. Other frequent causes are a mismatch between the area in the deed and the area in the record, a dag number quoted from an old CS or RS record instead of the current LR record, a deed that is registered but not stamped correctly, an objection filed by a co-sharer claiming an undivided share, a court stay on the plot, and illegible uploads that the BL&LRO's office cannot read. Land recorded as vested, or as belonging to a Scheduled Tribe holder transferred without permission, is refused outright.

Where do I complain if the mutation is stuck?

Banglarbhumi carries a grievance option on the portal and a public helpdesk, and the department publishes the Directorate of Land Records and Survey email dlrswb@gmail.com on the Banglarbhumi footer for correspondence. Within the administration, the escalation from the Block Land and Land Reforms Officer runs to the District Land and Land Reforms Officer, and then to the Directorate. Carry your application number, the GRN of the fee payment and the date of filing to every escalation, a mutation case without its case number cannot be traced. For land disputes involving competing claims of title, the remedy is a civil suit, not a grievance petition, because the BL&LRO records rights but does not adjudicate ownership.