The Document Checklist Before You Buy a Plot in Uttar Pradesh

Most plot disputes in Braj trace back to a document nobody asked for. The land was fine, the price was fine, but one link in the chain was missing and it surfaced years later when the family tried to build or sell. The documents to check before buying a plot in Uttar Pradesh fall into three groups: the revenue record (who holds the land), the title record (how it changed hands), and the planning record (whether it may be a residential plot at all). Here is the checklist we use ourselves, with where each paper comes from and what a clean one looks like.

Group one: the revenue record

Khatauni (record of rights)

The khatauni is the village ledger of landholders maintained by the Board of Revenue. Each entry (khata) lists the holder's name, the khasra or gata numbers held, the area, and the fasli (revenue) year, with a remarks column where orders and disputes are noted. You want the current khatauni for the revenue village where your plot lies, showing the seller (for a colony, the developer or the landowning company or individual) as holder of the khasra your plot sits on.

Where to get it: upbhulekh.gov.in, free, no login. Ujjivan's guide summarises the route as choosing the record type, then district, tehsil and village, then searching by khata number, khasra number or owner name. The real-time khatauni option shows the latest mutations. For anything legal you need a certified copy; Money Tree's walkthrough points to the "अंश निर्धारण की नक़ल" option and the tehsil for that. Our Bhulekh walkthrough goes step by step.

What to look for: the name matches the seller exactly; the area is at least the area of the whole layout; the remarks column is empty of court orders, attachments or "vivadit" (disputed) marks. UP Bhulekh has a separate link to check disputed-land status; use it.

Khasra (survey parcel) and the map

The khasra number identifies the parcel. Confirm the khasra numbers in the layout sanction and the sale deed are the same ones in the khatauni, and that the village map (bhu-naksha) shows those parcels where the colony physically is. A plot "carved out of khasra 412" is meaningless if 412 is a field two kilometres away.

Mutation status

If the seller acquired the land by purchase, gift or inheritance, the khatauni should already show their name; that is what mutation (dakhil kharij) does. If the khatauni still shows the previous owner, the seller has a registered deed but an un-updated record. That is fixable, but insist it be fixed before your registry, not after. See our mutation guide.

Group two: the title record

Chain of title

Ask for every registered deed by which the land moved from the original cultivator to the present seller: sale deeds, gift deeds, partition deeds, family settlements, court decrees, succession entries. Advocates in Mathura typically trace thirty years. For a colony the chain is usually short (farmer to developer to you) but check the farmer's side: was the land ancestral, and if so, did all heirs sign? A missing brother or a minor's share not dealt with is the classic source of later litigation.

Where to get it: the seller must supply copies; certified copies of any registered deed can be applied for on IGRS UP under विलेखों की प्रमाणित प्रतिलिपि (certified copy of deeds), and the portal's सम्पत्ति खोजें (property search) lets you look up registered documents.

Encumbrance certificate (bharmukt praman patra / barah saala)

This is the Sub-Registrar's certificate of registered transactions on the property over a period, standard twelve years in Uttar Pradesh, hence "barah saala". Home First's guide lists the online route: igrsup.gov.in, citizen services, "भारमुक्त प्रमाणपत्र/बारह साला", create a login, enter district, tehsil, village and plot details, pay the fee (the guide quotes 100 to 500 rupees depending on district and period), and download the digitally signed certificate, typically in three to seven working days online.

What it tells you: registered sales, mortgages, gift deeds, attachments. What it does not tell you: unregistered agreements, oral family arrangements, pending suits not yet attached. So a clean certificate is necessary, not conclusive.

Agreement to sell and payment trail

If the seller is a developer, you will sign an agreement to sell before registry. Read it for the plot number, area, price, payment schedule, possession date and what happens if either side defaults. Keep every receipt and pay by bank transfer. Our guide to token money and agreements goes deeper.

No power-of-attorney sales

If the person selling is not the recorded owner but holds a "GPA", stop. A general power of attorney does not transfer title, and the Supreme Court has said so plainly. The holder may sign as agent for a living, willing principal whose name is on the khatauni, with a registered POA; anything else is a different transaction dressed up as a sale. Read why GPA sales are risky before proceeding.

Group three: the planning record

Layout sanction

Under the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, development within the Mathura-Vrindavan Development Authority's area needs the authority's written permission. Ask for the full sanction letter and the stamped layout drawing. From the sanction letter we studied on the UP RERA portal, expect: a file number (MVDA/LD/year/serial), a permit number, the permit date and a validity date, the revenue village and khasra numbers, standard and special conditions, and the statement that the permission "does not confer any ownership rights". MVDA's website keeps lists of approved and unapproved colonies; check both. Details in what MVDA approval means.

Land-use and conversion

If the land is recorded as agricultural in the khatauni and there is no sanction, you are being sold a share of a field, not a residential plot, whatever the brochure says. Ask how and when the land use was changed. Our comparison of agricultural land versus approved plots explains the difference.

NOCs and the developer's obligations

The special conditions in a sanction letter list what the developer owes the authority: development fees, internal roads and drains, rainwater harvesting, handover to a residents' association. Ask whether the fees were paid and whether a completion certificate has been issued or applied for. If the project is registered with UP RERA, the promoter's uploads under Registered Projects on up-rera.in usually include the sanction and the approved plan; the RERA guide shows what else you can read there.

The checklist in one table

Document	Source	Clean if
Current khatauni	upbhulekh.gov.in / tehsil (certified)	Seller's name, right khasras, no adverse remarks
Khasra map (bhu-naksha)	Bhulekh / lekhpal	Parcels match the colony's location
Mutation order for seller	Tehsil	Seller already recorded as holder
Chain of title deeds	Seller; certified copies via IGRS UP	Unbroken, all heirs signed
Encumbrance certificate (12 yr)	igrsup.gov.in	No mortgage or attachment outstanding
Layout sanction + stamped drawing	Developer; MVDA; UP RERA	Valid, your plot on a listed khasra
Approved/unapproved colony list	mvdamathura.com	Colony in approved list
UP RERA registration	up-rera.in	Registered, details match
Agreement to sell + receipts	Developer	Plot, area, price, dates all match
Seller's identity	Aadhaar, PAN	Names identical across all papers

What this means for you

Pull the khatauni and encumbrance certificate yourself this week; they are online and cheap. Then hand the whole set to an advocate who works in Mathura's Sub-Registrar offices, because local practice matters. A seller who welcomes this process is telling you something good; one who resists is telling you something too. For our own layouts we hand over this file at the site visit, and we would rather you check it than trust us.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Please confirm with your advocate or chartered accountant.