w.p.(md)nos.7746, 6308, 8659, 8373 of 2020 & 22506, 1628

W.P.(MD)Nos.7746 of 2020 & batch cases

W.P.(MD)Nos.7746, 6308, 8659, 8373 of 2020 & 22506, 1628 & 5920 of 2019 &

18676, 3416, 25497, 25503, 23730, 21569, 2613, 2448, 1986 & 20163 of 2019

D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.

Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and

Mr.K.Chellapandian, learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the

respondents.

2.According to the petitioners, all these Writ Petitions being filed with the

prayer that the authorities have not considered their applications with regard to

issuance of transfer of patta and they are pending for several months / years.

3.The Government has issued several Government Orders with regard to

patta transfer and the same reads as follows:

i) As per the recommendation of the High Level Committee constituted

under the Chairmanship of Justice Thiru G.Ramanujam, with regard to patta

transfer that “Reconciliation of relevant entries in the Taluk office with these in

the Sub-Registrars office should be done systematically once in a month so that

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patta transfers are all recorded up to date. Revenue Divisional Officers should

certify every quarter that this reconciliation has been duly carried out”, the

Government has issued G.O.Ms.No.117, Revenue Department, dated

09.03.1999, in which, the Government decided to implement the same more

effectively by fixing a time limit to dispose of the patta transfer petitions. The

Government, accordingly, directed that the petitions relating to patta transfer

should be disposed of within 30 days for transfer of patta involving sub-

divisions and 15 days for simple transfer of patta not involving sub-division.

The Government also directed that the Revenue Divisional Officer / District

Revenue Officer should review the disposal of these petitions monthly and at

the State level, the heads of Government should review the work once in a

quarter and send a consolidated report to the Government.

ii) Subsequently, the Government has issued G.O.Ms.No.210, Revenue

SS-I(1) Department, dated 08.07.2011, wherein exhaustive guidelines have

been issued on petitions relating to name transfer of patta on the basis of the

announcement made by the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

iii) The Government has implemented online patta transfer system and

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issued G.O.Ms.No.303, Revenue [SS-II(2)] Department, dated 27.12.2016, in

which the Government ordered the Principal Secretary / Commissioner of

Survey and Settlement to implement the online patta transfer system for transfer

of registry by superseding the procedure laid down in G.O.Ms.No.210, Revenue

Department, dated 08.07.2011 with the following new features:

(i) The applications for patta transfer may be received through

e-service/common service centres authorized by the competent

authority for this purpose.

(ii) The applications thus received may be processed as per the

workflow mandated in the Tamil Nilam Applications Software.

(iii) OR-coded Digitally-Signed Land Records (copies of A-

Register and Patta) may be issued and the digital signature shall be

affixed by the Tahsildar or any other competent authority designated

for the said purpose.

(iv) Public may be provided the facility to download such copies anytime,

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anywhere through an online portal created for this purpose.

4.When these matters came up for hearing on 31.07.2020, this Court after

hearing the arguments made by either side, had posed many questions to the

learned Special Government Pleader and directed to file a comprehensive report

before this Court on 19.08.2020. The relevant portion of the order dated

31.07.2020, reads as follows:

“6.In G.O.Ms.No.210, dated 08.07.2011, the Government has

issued an order that the application shall be processed either by the

Surveyor or by the Village Administrative Officer by fixing the specified

time to submit their report to the Deputy Tahsildar and the Deputy

Tahsildar will give a time to specify the patta proceedings, based on the

report submitted by the Village Administrative Officer. The final order

will be passed by the Deputy Tahsildar / Tahsildar.

7.The officials have to obey the instructions of the Government

and issue patta within the specified time, which is the ultimate object of

the Government and the same was announced by the Chief Minister.

Following the announcement, the Government has issued Government

Order and therefore, the said officials cannot violate the said directions

of the Government, as the authority has to comply with the directions.

Therefore, the Govt. has to answer the following issues raised by

this Court?

8.Why the officials have not taken departmental action against

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the officer, despite several instructions given by the Government. It is to

be answered by the Department for giving the effect to the

implementation the order of the Government by disposing the said

application in accordance with procedure and rules within the specified

period.

9.As per the instructions issued by the Government, the District

Collectors should conduct the review meeting. The Department has to

file status report of the review meeting.

10.Pursuant to the contentions, at present how many applications

are pending in the Districts to survey the land and also applications

pending for patta or to cancel the patta, have to be answered by the

District Collectors.

11. The Government has granted stipulated time by disposing

such application and the same was announced by the Hon'ble Chief

Minister and various guidelines have been issued to that effect. In the

light of the earlier Government Order, the Authorities have not

implemented the said order in a true letter and spirit.

12.Even on-line application is submitted there is a delay in

processing the said application and there is no procedure to know the

status of the application, if any curable defects pointed out by the

Tahsildar, is it possible for granting further time to rectify the said defect

and reconsider the said application.

13.It is brought to the notice that the lands were assessed under

UDR Scheme in the year 1983-84 and thereafter, there is no assessment

made by the Revenue Department to re-assess and re-survey the land for

these 37 years. Hence, the Government has to give reply why no steps

have been taken for re-assessment and re-survey the land for updating

entry in the revenue records.

14.The learned Special Government Pleader appearing for the

respondents is directed to file a comprehensive report before this Court,

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on 19.08.2020.

15.List the Writ petition on 19th August, 2020.”

5.Today, when these matters are taken up for hearing, the learned

Additional Advocate General submitted a status report filed by the Director,

Survey and Settlement, Chennai.

6.Based on the status report, the submissions of the learned Additional

Advocate General are as follows:

6.1.From the year 2014, computerised land records of rural areas were

brought on-line in a phased manner using a software application called 'Web-

based Tamil Nilam' (Tamil Nadu Information System on Land Administration

and Management). Under this system, applications for patta transfer are

received through online in Common Service Centres (CSCs). The patta transfer

applications which does not require sub-division are listed in the dashboards of

Village Administrative Officers and the time limit for disposing of the said

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application is 15 days and the patta transfer applications which require sub-

division are listed in the dashboards of the Firka Surveyors and the time limit

for disposing of the said application is 30 days. Digitally signed, QR-coded

pattas can be downloaded free of cost under the e-service 'Anytime Anywhere'

at http://eservices.tn.gov.in. In order to implement the above-mentioned web-

based Online Patta Transfer system, the orders issued earlier in G.O.Ms.No.210,

Revenue (SS-I(1)) Department dated 08.07.2011 regarding disposal of patta

transfer applications have been superseded subsequently in G.O.Ms.No.303,

Revenue (SS-II(2)) Department dated 27.12.2016.

6.2.From 12.02.2018, the web-based software of the Registration

Department, viz., STAR-2.O and the software of land records, viz., web-based

Tamil Nilam, were integrated to facilitate online transmission of registration

details of landed properties to the Tamil Nilam software in order to initiate patta

transfer activities. The registration particulars are transmitted in a specific

format (Form-3) and they are listed as Patta Transfer Applications in the

dashboards of the Village Administrative Officers or Firka Surveyors and such

applications are disposed of in the regular online by the Taluk officials and

pattas are issued. The pattas can also be downloaded free of cost under the e-

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http://eservices.tn.gov.in/


service 'anytime anywhere' and there is no need for the registrants to file patta

transfer applications separately at Taluk Offices.

6.3.Due to shortage of Surveyors and also due to inflow of STR

applications from the year 2018, pendency of patta applications increased

multi-fold. Currently 6,39,930/- Involving Sub-Division (ISD) applications and

1,46,907/- Not Involving Sub-Division (NISD) applications are pending in the

OPT system and the District-wise breakup details from 01.01.2018 to

31.07.2020 are as follows:-

Sl.No. District Involving Sub-Division (ISD) (pending)

Not Involving Sub-Division (NISD) (pending)

1. Tiruvallur 23948 34282. Chennai 2265 15213. Kancheepuram 7758 31144. Vellur 16956 21385. Dharmapuri 20839 41736. Thiruvannamalai 14304 44817. Villupuram 20080 40098. Salem 38730 58789. Namakkal 13913 458010. Erode 25282 475411. Nilgiris 364 361

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12. Coimbatore 45032 465013. Dindigul 25547 567914. Karur 5526 204315. Thiruchirappalli 19806 461216. Perambalur 3333 135617. Ariyalur 4022 264918. Cuddalore 11294 440819. Nagapattinam 5602 351920. Tiruvarur 4330 318421. Thanjavur 8348 794222. Pudukottai 11382 417223. Sivagangai 11986 416024. Madurai 43133 696925. Theni 9187 117326. Virudhunagar 19961 269727. Ramanathapuram 16854 208728. Thoothukudi 14804 684129. Tirunelveli 14615 394330. Kanyakumari 9394 714331. Krishnagiri 58834 457932. Tiruppur 25426 969433. Kallakurichi 16151 512934. Tenkasi 13450 277435. Chengalpattu 14208 374336. Tirupattur 20786 195437. Ranipet 22480 1370

Total 6,39,930 1,46,907

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6.4. The learned Additional Advocate General has further submitted that

in order to expedite the disposal of OPT applications, the Government have

taken the following measures:-

(i) In G.O.Ms.No.362, Revenue and Disaster Management Department,

dated 04.10.2019, the Government have issued orders to impart training to

Diploma holders in Civil Engineering (for three months) and to award them

'License in Land Surveying ', so that they can be engaged in the Online Patta

Transfer system. Accordingly, two batches of trainees viz., 186 persons have

been selected and training is being imparted to them at the Survey Training

Institute, Orathanadu. Due to corona, the training has got delayed and after the

completion of the training the 'Licensed Surveyors' will be engaged in the OPT

work.

(ii) Since Village Administrative Officers have been given survey training

for 28 days when they were initially appointed, in G.O.Ms.No.173, Revenue

and Disaster Management Department, dated 26.03.2020, the Government have

issued orders to give them refresher survey training for one week and to engage

in the disposal of OPT applications involving Sub-Divisions. Upon sanction of

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funds, the training will be commenced and after completion of training, half of

the pending ISD applications will be transferred to their dashboard from the

Firka Surveyors.

(iii) Orders have been issued converting 191 Draftsmen as Field

Surveyors, based on their willingness and survey training is being imparted to

them. Upon completion of training, they will be engaged in the disposal of ISD

applications.

(iv) TNPSC has allotted 505 persons for being appointed in the vacant

posts of Field Surveyors and they will be given training for three months and

they will be posted additionally to Taluks, where the pending of ISD

applications are high.

(v) In G.O.Ms.No.84, Revenue and Disaster Management Department,

dated 04.02.2020, the Government have issued orders to implement 'Automatic

Mutation of land records' in order to simply and expedite title transfers Not

Involving Sub-Divisions.

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6.5. Reviews on pendency of OPT applications are conducted periodically

by the ACS to Government, Revenue Department, Commissioner of Land

Administration (CLA) and the Director of Survey and Settlement (DOSS). The

Director of Survey and Settlement has been conducting the reviews every month

with all the Regional Deputy Directors of Survey and Land Records (RDDs)

and Assistant Director of Survey and Land Records (ADSLRs). Each District is

reviewed critically and disciplinary actions have been taken against the survey

officials, who have not achieved the out-turn.

6.6. The Director of Survey and Settlement has issued instructions to

Assistant Directors of Survey and Land Records of all Districts to increase the

rate of approval and to reduce the high rejection and pendency of OPT

applications. The Director of Land and Survey has written letters to the District

Collectors concerned to review the performance of officials and issue necessary

instructions to decrease the pendency. During the periodical review meetings

conducted by the Commissioner of Land Administration and Director of Survey

and Settlement with the District Revenue Officers, they have reviewed the

performance of OPT applications and necessary instructions are being issued to

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the officials concerned to dispose of the OPT applications within the stipulated

time line.

6.7. The web-based Online Patta Transfer system has the following

facilities for tracking the status of OPT applications:-

(i) On submission of OPT applications citizens can track the status by

clicking the link 'know your application status' in the

Url:https://eservices.tn.gov.in.

(ii) The citizens can also track the status of their applications through

their android mobile application 'Amma e-service of land records' under the

heading 'application status'.

6.8. Apart from the above, the following facilities are also available:

(i) On submission of OPT applications, MFS/VAO schedule the

application for the field visit and the same is communicated to the citizens

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https://eservices.tn.gov.in/


through an SMS.

(ii) During the processing of OPT application, MFS/VAO can also request

the citizen for submitting additional documents through SMS and the citizen

can scan and upload the document requested by the MFS/VAO through a web-

link, without visiting the taluk office in person.

(iii) On approval of application, the status is being communicated to the

applicant along with patta no an that the citizen can download the patta.

Similarly, if the application is rejected, the status is communicated to the

applicant through an SMS.

7. The learned counsels appearing for the petitioners have made a

submission before this Court that for effective and speedy disposal of the

pending application, the Deputy Zonal Tahsildar of each Taluk concerned can be

exclusively deputed for disposal of the said applications, in view of the huge

pendency of the applications for disposal. It is also pointed out by the learned

counsel for the petitioners that most of the applicants are illiterate or no

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knowledge on the access of the communication received by the Department

through SMS.

8. On a perusal of the said report filed by the Director of Survey and

Settlement, Chennai, it is seen that there are totally 6,39,930 applications are

pending in Involving Sub-Division (ISD) and 1,46,907 applications are pending

in Not Involving Sub-Division (NISD). All these pending applications are not in

consonance with the Government Orders to comply and dispose of the

applications. Particularly in respect of pendency of Not Involving Sub-Division

(NISD) applications which shown as 1,469,07 involves a simple process of

mere transfer the name of the patta to the applicant.

9. The Government has also passed an order recently in G.O.Ms.No.84,

Revenue and Disaster Management Department, dated 04.02.2020 for

implementing the Automatic Mutation of land records in order to simplify and

expedite title transfers in respect of applications of Not Involving Sub-

Division. Since, this being the object of the Government that to process the

application immediately and to grant patta to the applicants within the stipulated

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time, this Court is of the view that the said object is not fulfilled in view of the

pendency of large number of applications which still exists for many years. It

will cause great difficult to the applicants to get patta and they are driven from

pillar to post to get the patta, even in case, where there is no dispute for granting

of patta.

10. The submission made by the learned Additional Advocate General

that due to lack of staff members in the department, the applications are being

pending and it will take some time for processing the applications on

completion of the training by the newly recruited persons. Therefore, taking

note of all the aforesaid facts, so far the delay is on the part of the department is

not appreciated by this Court. Further, as stated in paragraph No.7 of the report

that the review meeting is being conducted by the concerned District Collectors,

even if such review meeting is being conducted, this Court could not understand

why large number of applications are pending for disposal. This can be

construed that no clear instructions have been given by the concerned officials

for disposal of the applications.

11. In view of this, the Commissioner of Land Administration is directed

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to give proper instructions to all the District Collectors concerned and to ensure

that necessary steps are being taken to dispose the pending applications under

the category of Not Involving Sub-Division periodically. Insofar as Involving

Sub-Division is concerned, the Government has to sort out the schedule for

disposal of the applications at the earliest stage in order to comply with the

Government Orders.

12. Taking into consideration the submissions of the learned Additional

Advocate General and taking serious note of the fact that inspite of the several

orders issued by the Government, no effective steps are being taken by the

official concerned to dispose the pending applications, the Commissioner of

Land Administration, Chepauk is directed to file the report before this Court on

the following aspect:

(i) With regard to the first set of the pendency of applications

shown in the report as 1,46,907 in Non-involving Sub-Division is

concerned, the Commissioner of Land Administration shall issue

proper instructions to all the District Collectors concerned and to

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dispose of the applications on merits and to take decision and submit

the report before this Court on 14.09.2020.

(ii) With regard to the second set of the pendency of

applications shown in the report as 6,39,930 in Involving Sub-

Division is concerned, the Director of Survey and Settlement has

stated that due to shortage of staffs, huge number of applications are

pending and after completing the training programmes to the newly

recruited staffs, the Department will expedite to dispose of these

pending applications and hence, the Commissioner of Land

Administration is directed to spell out the time bound for disposal of

those Involving Sub-Division applications pending before various

Taluk levels on the next hearing date.

(iii) A provision also to be incorporated by furnishing the

additional mobile number of the family members of the applicants,

so as to easily response to the communication received from the

authorities, those who make special request.

(iv) The Zonal Deputy Tahsildar or Special Tahsildar of each

Taluk concerned shall be exclusively assigned for dealing with patta

cases.

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(v) The Commissioner of Land Administration is directed to

file a report with regard to conduct of review meeting and action

taken for not obeying the orders, as stated in paragraph No.7 of the

status report.

(vi) Further, the Commissioner of Administration has also to

ensure that there shall be co-ordination between the Surveyor and the

Village Administrative Officer for effectively processing the

applications and file a report to the Zonal Deputy Tahsildar.

(vii) A report has to be filed with regard to the re-assessment

of UDR Scheme which was evaluated in the year 1983.

14. All the learned counsel appearing for the petitioners shall serve the

copy of the applications to the learned Additional Advocate General or the

Special Government Pleader on or before 21.08.2020. In the meantime, the

petitioners' application shall also be processed and submit the report before this

Court by the concerned authority.

15. Post these matters on 14.09.2020 at 02.15 p.m.

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19.08.2020

Note:- In view of the present lock down owing to COVID – 19 pandemic, a web copy of the order may be utilized for official purposes, but, ensuring that the copy of the order that is presented is the correct copy, shall be the responsibility of the advocate / litigant concerned

and issue Order Copy on 21.08.2020.ps

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D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.

ps

W.P.(MD)Nos.7746, 6308, 8659, 8373 of 2020 & 22506, 1628 & 5920 of 2019 & 18676,

3416, 25497, 25503, 23730, 21569,2613, 2448, 1986 & 20163 of 2019

19.08.2020

21/21

w.p.(md)nos.7746, 6308, 8659, 8373 of 2020 & 22506, 1628

Documents