Farmers buying agricultural land in western Ahmedabad must now disclose every agricultural plot they own anywhere in Gujarat before their names can be entered in the official revenue records for the new purchase, under a circular issued by the city deputy collector and sub-divisional magistrate (west).
The circular, issued on August 20, makes a sworn affidavit mandatory at e-Dhara centres in Ghatlodia, Vejalpur and Sabarmati. These are the three talukas under the jurisdiction of the deputy collector, west. The affidavit must state the buyer’s total agricultural landholdings across Gujarat, including land held in other villages.
Revenue officials will use the declaration to assess whether the buyer’s holdings exceed the limits prescribed under the Gujarat Agricultural Lands Ceiling Act, 1976. If the disclosure indicates a possible violation, legal action may be initiated, according to the report. Buyers who do not submit the affidavit will not have their names entered in the revenue records, effectively blocking the mutation process for the transaction.
The circular instructs mamlatdars, deputy mamlatdars working through e-Dhara and mutation officers under the western sub-division to obtain an affidavit from every purchasing farmer. The buyer must declare either the agricultural land already held elsewhere in Gujarat or, under oath, that no other agricultural land is owned in another village in the state.
The move follows concerns among revenue officers that purchasers were completing agricultural-to-agricultural land sales and beginning mutation entries without declaring their existing holdings. Such a process could make it difficult for authorities to assess whether a buyer’s combined landholding complies with the ceiling law.
The requirement applies after the sale deed has been executed and stamp duty and registration fees have been paid. Advocate Deepak Patel said the buyer’s name should consequently be entered in the revenue records within a stipulated timeframe. He supported the compliance requirement but cautioned that the administration would need a system to ensure that the additional affidavit process does not delay updates to land records.
Mutation is the administrative process through which a change in ownership is recorded in revenue records after a property transaction. It does not by itself replace the registered sale deed, but it is an important part of maintaining the government’s record of who holds land. For agricultural land, the process also gives revenue authorities an opportunity to examine compliance with landholding restrictions.
The western Ahmedabad circular therefore links a routine record-updating step with a wider check on land concentration across Gujarat. Its immediate operational effect is that buyers must provide the affidavit before mutation officers process the entry. The authorities’ next step will be to examine the disclosures and initiate proceedings where holdings are found to exceed the prescribed ceiling.