Ministry directs to mutate individual’s portion, receive land tax

The Ministry of Land has directed field-level officials to separate privately owned land from khas or government-interest land within the same plot, and to process mutation and collect land development tax on the private portion.

In a circular issued on Monday, the ministry said that mutation applications and tax collection are being held up in many cases simply because part of a plot is khas or of government interest, which it described as "by no means acceptable".

Signed by Senior Secretary ASM Saleh Ahmed, the circular instructs Assistant Commissioners (Land) to identify khas land separately after reviewing current and previous records, plot registers, mouza maps, chains of ownership and the deeds of the owners concerned. The separation must be based on an on-site survey.

After a mutation application is filed, a kanungo or surveyor will conduct a field investigation in the presence of the parties concerned. 

Private and government-interest land will be marked on a jointly signed sketch map. The Assistant Commissioner will then hold a hearing, review the documents, approve mutation of the private portion and collect land development tax.

No separate miscellaneous case file will be needed when separation is done in response to a mutation application. A separate case may be opened only where separation is required without mutation, either in the government’s interest or on the landowner’s application.

The ministry made clear that mutation will apply only to the private portion described in the schedule. It will create no title, ownership or possession over the remaining khas land in the plot and khatian. This must be clearly recorded in the remarks column of the khatian.