Owners of thousands of properties are distressed in the state over inclusion of their properties in the prohibited list under Section 22-A of the Registration Act. Those who want to sell their properties are facing hardships due to registration restrictions. Why did the government include properties in the prohibited list? Whom should the affected owners approach for delisting their properties from the prohibited list? TNIE’s
Manda Ravinder Reddy attempts to find answers for these and other related queries:
What is Section 22-A?
Section 22-A of the Registration Act empowers the state government to prohibit registration and transfer of certain categories of land. Land belonging to the state or Union government, Endowments land, Waqf properties, agricultural or urban lands declared as surplus under the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act and the land under court litigation are prohibited from registration. Section 22-A(1)(a) and (b) prohibit alienation or transfer of government lands, Section 22-A(1)(c) Waqf and Endowments lands, Section 22-A(1)(d) urban ceiling lands and Section 22-A(1)(e) court cases. The sub-registrars will not execute deeds pertaining to these lands.
How to check if your property is included in 22-A list
There are two ways to check whether a property is included in the prohibited list: 1 By visiting the Stamps & Registration portal (registration.telangana.gov.in). Within the portal, there will be an option to view the prohibited properties list. You have to select district, mandal and village from the list. Then, the entire list of prohibited properties in the selected village will appear. 2 By visiting the sub-registrar offices to enquire about properties in the prohibited list.
What if the property is included in the list
If the property is included in the 22-A list, the property owner should approach the government authorities. There are a few grievance redressal mechanisms related to 22-A. As per the Stamps & Registration department, for any grievance related to properties falling under Section 22-A(1)(a) and (b), the property owners should approach the district collector concerned. For the properties listed under Section 22-A(1)(c), the property owners should approach CEO of Waqf board and commissioner of Endowments department. For the properties placed under Section 22-A(1)(e), the property owners should approach the committee constituted for this purpose in the office of CCLA.
In view of increasing concerns among the public over prohibited lands, to receive calls and to resolve the issues, the government has set up a call centre with helpline number 18005994788.
What is the state government saying?
After a large number of properties were included in the 22-A list, Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy assured the people that the government will rectify the issues. He also said that a few additional properties were included in the list due to errors committed by officials. The government constituted a committee to resolve these issues. In genuine cases, the government is permitting registrations after verifying the records.