The Complete Karnataka Farm Land Document Glossary: 26 Terms Every Plot Buyer Must Verify in 2026

Quick Answer: The Karnataka Farm Land Document Map

• Ownership and title: Sale Deed, Mother Deed, Title Deed, Encumbrance Certificate, Khata Certificate, Khata Extract, A-Khata, B-Khata, Form 9, Form 11B

• Revenue records: RTC (Pahani), Mutation Register Extract, Tax Paid Receipts, Family Tree (Vamshavruksha)

• Survey records: Survey Number, Hissa, Tippani, Akarband, Hissa Tippani, Phodi, Pakka Book, Atlas, 11E Mojini Sketch

• Land-use and legal endorsements: DC Conversion Order, 79A/79B Endorsement, PTCL Endorsement, Kharab Land

The 26 terms below are the working vocabulary every Karnataka farm plot buyer needs before signing a sale agreement.

TL;DR:

• Six core documents: A clean farm plot purchase in Karnataka rests on the Sale Deed with full Mother Deed chain, a 30-year Encumbrance Certificate (EC), the RTC (Pahani), the Mutation Register Extract, and the Khata.

• Khata variations: Form 9 and Form 11B apply in Gram Panchayat areas, while A-Khata applies in BBMP areas.

• Survey records (the other 20 terms): Tippani, Akarband, and the 11E Mojini sketch prove how a plot was carved from a parent survey number.

• Three official systems:^[1] for revenue records,^[2] for registration records, and^[3] for Gram Panchayat properties.

• The most common dispute trigger: Most farm plot disputes start with one of these three systems disagreeing on owner name, survey number, or area.

Ownership and Title Documents: What Proves the Seller Can Sell

1. Sale Deed. The Sale Deed is the registered instrument that transfers ownership at the Sub-Registrar's Office under the Registration Act, 1908. It is the single most important document in any Karnataka transaction, registered through the Kaveri Online portal and now on the upgraded Kaveri 2.0 platform.

2. Mother Deed. The Mother Deed is the original document that traces ownership from the first recorded owner to the current seller. For agricultural land, the chain should go back at least 30 years, which is the standard title verification window followed by Karnataka property lawyers (^[4]).

3. Title Deed. The Title Deed refers to the bundle of legal rights attached to ownership. A clear title means the seller has the legal right to sell without competing claims from heirs, co-owners, or banks.

4. Encumbrance Certificate (EC). The EC is issued by the Sub-Registrar's Office and lists every registered transaction (sale, mortgage, gift, partition, lease) affecting a property within the period requested. Karnataka's online EC on Kaveri pulls computerised records from April 1, 2004 onwards; transactions older than that require a separate manual search at the SRO (^[5]). Form 15 lists encumbrances; Form 16 is a "Nil EC." For agricultural land, the standard search window is 20 to 30 years, and lenders typically require 13 to 30 years for home loan approval (^[6]).

5. Khata Certificate. The Khata Certificate is issued by the local civic body (BBMP, BMRDA, CMC, or Gram Panchayat) confirming the property is recorded for tax assessment. It is mandatory for property tax, utility connections, building plan sanction, and bank loans (^[7]). Khata alone does not prove ownership; it proves tax recognition.

6. Khata Extract. The Khata Extract is a one-page summary listing owner name, dimensions, annual tax, and assessment number. Bengaluru's current digital Khata is e-Khata (e-Aasthi), accessed on the^[8], with property tax paid on the^[9].

7. A-Khata. A-Khata is the BBMP classification for fully legal properties: land use is converted, building plans are sanctioned, and betterment charges are paid. Only A-Khata properties are eligible for trade licences, fresh building permits, and standard bank loans (Sobha, 2024).

8. B-Khata. B-Khata is a separate BBMP register for properties with deviations such as unconverted land or unauthorised construction. Following a Karnataka High Court order in December 2014, B-Khata properties were stripped of legal status and are now classified as illegal pending conversion (^[10]). A B-Khata farm plot is a serious red flag.

9. Form 9 (E-Swathu). Form 9 is the Gram Panchayat property record for non-agricultural rural properties, governed by Rule 28 of the Karnataka Panchayat Raj (Grama Panchayat Budgeting and Accounting) Rules, 2006 (Amendment Rules 2013). It is downloadable from the E-Swathu portal; Gram Panchayats have 45 days to issue Form 9 once a complete application is filed under the Sakala Service Guarantee Act (^[11]).

10. Form 11B (E-Swathu). Form 11B is the Gram Panchayat Register of Demand, Collection, and Balance for property tax, governed by Rule 30 of the same 2006 Rules. It is the digital downloadable extract aligned with E-Swathu 2.0 and is digitally signed by the Panchayat Development Officer (^[12]).

Revenue Records: What the Government Has on File About the Land

11. RTC (Pahani). The RTC is the Record of Rights, Tenancy, and Crops, maintained by the Karnataka Revenue Department for agricultural land. It captures ownership, tenancy, soil type, irrigation source, and seasonal crops. Karnataka digitised these records in 2000 through the Bhoomi project, the first state in India to do so (^[13]). The digitally signed^[14] is downloadable for ₹10 (^[15]).

12. Mutation Register Extract (MR). The MR is the official record proving the buyer's name has entered the Bhoomi system after sale, inheritance, gift, or partition. End-to-end mutation typically takes 60 to 90 days when the process runs smoothly, extending to 120 to 180 days if a Revenue Inspector inspection or objection delays it (^[16]). Since April 2024, mutations not requiring field verification (such as bank mortgages or court orders) are processed as automatic mutations, often within 24 hours (^[17]).

13. Tax Paid Receipts. Tax Paid Receipts confirm that property tax or land revenue is paid up to date. Buyers should request receipts covering at least three years; arrears beyond three years can trigger penalty assessments and require the EC to be furnished to the Panchayat or Village Officer for record updating (^[18]).

14. Family Tree (Vamshavruksha). The Family Tree, also called Vamshavruksha, is the Tahsildar-issued certificate that establishes legal heirs to inherited property. It is essential when the seller's claim derives from inheritance, because it confirms no other heir has a competing share. Applicants can apply through the Nadakacheri (Atalji Janasnehi Kendra) portal.

Survey Records: How the Plot Was Measured and Carved

15. Survey Number and Hissa. A Survey Number identifies a specific land parcel; the Hissa is its sub-division. Karnataka survey numbers follow the format Main Number / Surnoc / Hissa, for example 45/2A. Bhoomi requires each component to be entered in its correct field for the record to load (Bhoomi RTC, April 2026).

16. Tippani. The Tippani is the basic survey sketch for a survey number. It is a hand-drawn rough sketch (not to scale) containing the measurement details of a single survey number, issued by the Survey Department (^[19]).

17. Akarband. The Akarband is the village register showing the area and revenue assessment for each survey number. It contains the total cultivable area, non-cultivable Kharab area, dry/wet/garden classification, and water sources, and is maintained by the Survey, Settlement, and Land Records Department (CAG Karnataka, 2014). The Karnataka government has made the Akarband extract compulsory for land registration (^[20]).

18. Hissa Tippani. The Hissa Tippani is the sketch produced when a parent survey number is sub-divided into smaller hissas. For a farm plot carved out of a larger holding, this document proves the geometry of the buyer's specific share before the sale is registered.

19. Phodi. Phodi is the formal sub-division process by which a Hissa Tippani becomes a permanent record. Government surveyors physically measure and demarcate each portion and assign new survey sub-numbers (e.g., Survey 45 becomes 45/1, 45/2, 45/3), producing a separate RTC entry in Bhoomi for each new parcel (Bhoomi RTC, 2026). The Tatkal Podi scheme offers a fast-track paid option that typically completes within 30 to 60 days from the survey appointment, compared to 12 to 24 months for regular Podi.

20. Pakka Book. The Pakka Book is the consolidated official survey record of all survey numbers in a village, replacing rough Tippani entries with finalised measurements. It is applied for through the^[21].

21. Atlas / Village Map. The Atlas is the official village map showing the spatial layout of all survey numbers, roads, water bodies, and Kharab areas. It is downloadable through Mojini V3 and the Bhoomi Revenue Maps service.

22. 11E Mojini Sketch. The 11E sketch is the pre-mutation survey sketch issued when a portion of agricultural land within a survey number is being sold, gifted, or sub-divided. It is generated through the Mojini V3 portal along with the land conversion sketch and Thatkal Podi (^[22]). For most farm plot transactions where a parent survey has been split, the 11E is mandatory before the Sale Deed can be registered.

Land-Use and Legal Endorsements That Decide if the Plot Is Buildable

23. DC Conversion Order. The DC Conversion Order is issued by the Deputy Commissioner under Section 95 of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act, 1964, converting agricultural land to non-agricultural use. Without it, any non-agricultural construction is illegal, BBMP will not issue an A-Khata, and authorities can demolish the structure (^[23]).

24. Form 79A / 79B Endorsement. Form 79A/79B endorsements historically certified the buyer's eligibility to purchase agricultural land under Sections 79A and 79B of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961. The 2020 Amendment Act repealed Sections 79A, 79B, and 79C with retrospective effect from March 1, 1974, a position the Supreme Court reaffirmed in R. Raghu v. G.M. Krishna (2025 INSC 1040) on August 26, 2025 (^[24]). Salaried buyers, companies, and non-agriculturists can now purchase agricultural land in Karnataka without restriction (^[25]).

25. PTCL Endorsement. The PTCL Endorsement confirms that the land is not granted land protected under the Karnataka Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prohibition of Transfer of Certain Lands) Act, 1978. The 2023 Amendment to the PTCL Act added sub-sections (c) and (d) to Section 5, removing any time limitation for invoking the Act regardless of any other law in force (^[26];^[27]). A transfer made decades ago can now still be challenged. PTCL screening is non-negotiable due diligence for any farm plot in Karnataka.

26. Kharab Land. Kharab Land is the portion of a survey number classified as uncultivable. A Kharab covers rocky outcrops and ravines; B Kharab covers paths, cattle tracks, and government-reserved areas. Buyers commonly purchase a "2-acre plot" only to find 25 guntas recorded as B Kharab in the Akarband and unusable for cultivation or construction. Always cross-check the Akarband Kharab entry against the cultivable area in the RTC.

Why These 26 Documents Matter More for Farm Plots Than Apartments

Karnataka land documentation sits across three administrative systems that must agree on the same name, survey number, and area for a transaction to be clean: the Revenue Department (RTC, Mutation, Akarband), the Sub-Registrar on Kaveri (Sale Deed, EC), and the local body (Khata or Form 9/11B). Most farm plot disputes start with a mismatch in one of these three systems (Bhoomi RTC, 2026).

This is exactly the workflow gap that managed farmland developers like Agrocorp Landbase close for buyers. With over 10 years of experience and 7 delivered projects across 300+ acres, Agrocorp's in-house legal diligence, transparent dealings, and zero-litigation track record handle the title chain, mutation, conversion, and Khata creation as a single end-to-end workflow (^[28]). For buyers who prefer raw farmland, the 26 terms above are the working vocabulary every plot buyer needs.

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