Land records and the ROR Act – APPSC Paper I notes

Core facts

Purpose of land records: to know which land, whose land, and how much revenue it pays. The work of measuring, recording owners and fixing revenue is Survey and Settlement.
Survey records: the village map (each plot gets a survey number) and the Field Measurement Book (FMB), the sketch and measurements of every survey number (called Tippan in Telangana).
Settlement record: the Resettlement Register (RSR): who the pattadar is and the extent (called Setwar in Telangana). Survey + settlement records = permanent records.
Adangal (called Pahani in Telangana): the village register of cultivation, kept survey-number-wise: who holds and cultivates, which crop, which season.
1-B register = Record of Rights (ROR): the register of owners, kept person-wise (khata-wise).
ROR Act: the Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971 (Act 26 of 1971).
Tahsildar (Mandal Revenue Officer) keeps and updates the ROR and issues the title deed cum pattadar passbook.
Mutation: changing the name in the ROR after a sale, inheritance, partition or decree (ROR Act S.5).
Measures: 1 acre = 100 cents = 40 guntas = 4,840 square yards = 43,560 square feet.

Explained

From survey to Record of Rights.

Record	What it shows	Kept / prepared by
Village map, FMB	Plot boundaries, survey numbers, measurements	Survey and Land Records Department
RSR (Setwar)	Settled owner (pattadar), extent, assessment	Settlement records, permanent
Adangal (Pahani)	Possession and crops, survey-number-wise	Village revenue officer, every season
1-B / ROR	Owners, pattadars, mortgagees, tenants, person-wise	Recording authority, under the Tahsildar

The ROR Act, 1971, section by section.

S.3: a Record of Rights is prepared for every village: names of owners, pattadars, mortgagees, occupants and tenants, the nature of their rights, and the revenue or rent payable. When it is complete it is notified in the Gazette; anyone affected may apply for rectification within one year.
S.4: anyone who acquires a right (by sale, gift, succession, partition, decree, patta) must inform the Tahsildar within 30 days. The Sub-Registrar who registers a land document informs the Tahsildar electronically; the village revenue officer reports within 15 days of knowing.
S.5 (mutation): the recording authority gives notice to all affected persons, hears objections and amends the ROR. After a registration the buyer's name is entered provisionally at once; the Tahsildar confirms within 30 days. Appeals: 60 days against an amendment order (S.5(5)); 15 days to the RDO against the Tahsildar's order on a provisional mutation.
S.5-A: regularisation of unregistered sales (sada bainama): the occupant pays the stamp duty and registration fee and gets a certificate from the Tahsildar; the passbook then shows him as owner. Not allowed if it breaks the land ceiling, Scheduled Area or Assigned Lands laws. S.5-B: appeal to the RDO within 30 days.
S.6: every ROR entry is presumed true until the contrary is proved.
S.6-A: title deed cum pattadar passbook for agricultural land, and a certificate of ownership for gramakantham and non-agricultural land, both from the Tahsildar. The passbook has the same value as a registered document for an equitable mortgage (bank loan).
Bhudhaar (Act 8 of 2019): a unique number for each land parcel, with e-Bhudhaar and m-Bhudhaar cards. Land of the Government, local bodies, Endowments and Wakf gets numbers from a specially reserved series.
S.8: no suit against the Government about an ROR entry; a person may file a declaration suit against a rival claimant, and the ROR follows the decree.
S.9: the Collector may revise any order of the recording authority, Tahsildar or RDO.
S.12: the Act does not apply to Government lands.

Other land terms.

Encumbrance Certificate (EC): issued by the Sub-Registrar; lists the registered transactions (sale, mortgage, gift) on a property for the period searched.
Sale deed: registered at the Sub-Registrar office; mutation in the revenue records follows.
Gramakantham: village habitation site, common land of the village.
Assigned land: Government land given to the landless poor; heritable but cannot be sold (Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977).
Ayacut: land irrigated by one water source. Banjar: vacant Government land kept for public use. Poramboke: land unfit for cultivation at survey (tanks, roads, burial grounds), Government land.
Agraharam: village granted to Brahmins free of revenue or at low revenue. Devadaya inam / devaka inam: land granted for a temple's upkeep or its service holders (manyam).

How temple land is recorded and protected.

Patta in the institution's name. After resumption the RDO grants the ryotwari patta to the institution (Endowments Act S.77(4)); service-inam pattas are deemed the institution's (S.76). The patta stands in the name of the deity or institution, not the trustee or archaka.
Section 43 register. Every institution must apply for registration to the Assistant Commissioner within 90 days. The application lists its immovable property, jewels and income. The AC keeps a register of institutions and endowments in two parts (charitable; religious) and sends copies to the Deputy Commissioner and the Commissioner. Changes are reported every year, and the certificate is sent back for correction once in 3 years. Failure or false information: fine up to ₹1,000.
Value of the register: entries are presumed correct and are evidence in court (S.46(3)); a dispute about an entry goes to the Endowments Tribunal (S.45).
22-A list. Section 22-A of the Registration Act, 1908 (AP amendment, 2007) lets the State list properties that a Sub-Registrar must not register; endowment and wakf properties are on it, so temple land cannot be sold through a private deed.
EO's duty: keep the temple's land register, check the adangal and 1-B each year, collect lease rent, and act under S.83 against encroachers.

AP angle

AP's online land records are on the Meebhoomi portal (adangal, 1-B, passbook copies). The Endowments Department keeps its own land register for each temple and checks it against the revenue records.
The AP terms are adangal, FMB and RSR; the Telangana terms pahani, tippan and setwar appear as distractors.

Common traps

✗ "Adangal is a person-wise register of owners." ✓ That is 1-B (ROR); adangal is survey-number-wise and records cultivation.
✗ "Pahani is the Andhra term." ✓ Adangal in Andhra; Pahani in Telangana.
✗ "The ROR Act is of 1984." ✓ 1971 (Act 26 of 1971); the passbook part came later. Some guides give 1984 for the start of passbooks.
✗ "Mutation is under Section 6 of the ROR Act." ✓ Intimation S.4, mutation (amendment of ROR) S.5; S.6 is the presumption of correctness.
✗ "Sada bainamas are regularised under Section 10 of the ROR Act." ✓ Under S.5-A; S.10 gives recording authorities civil-court powers. (Form 10 and the 13-B certificate are forms under the rules.)
✗ "An EC always covers 32 years." ✓ It covers the period searched.
✗ "FMB is the Telangana name." ✓ FMB in Andhra; Tippan in Telangana.
✗ "Temples register with the Deputy Commissioner under S.43." ✓ With the Assistant Commissioner, within 90 days.
✗ "1 acre = 4,840 square feet." ✓ 4,840 square yards = 43,560 square feet.

Quick revision

Survey: village map + FMB (Tippan); settlement: RSR (Setwar); together permanent records.
Adangal (Pahani) = cultivation, survey-number-wise; 1-B = ROR, owner-wise.
ROR Act = AP Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971 (Act 26 of 1971).
Intimate the Tahsildar within 30 days (S.4); mutation S.5; presumption S.6.
S.5-A regularises unregistered sales; appeal to the RDO within 30 days.
Title deed cum passbook from the Tahsildar (S.6-A); Bhudhaar unique number.
Collector revises (S.9); Act not for Government lands (S.12).
Temple patta in the institution's name (S.77(4)); S.43 register with the AC, 90 days.
22-A list: Sub-Registrar must not register endowment property.
1 acre = 100 cents = 40 guntas = 4,840 square yards.

Go deeper: Deeper (beyond what APPSC Paper I usually asks)

Deeper Advanced

Name changes. The Act of 1971 was first about the record of rights; Act 1 of 1989 added pattadar passbooks to its title and Act 9 of 1994 gave the present name "Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books". Act 10 of 2016 made the passbook a title deed cum pass book; Act 8 of 2019 added Bhudhaar, and Act 33 of 2021 brought gramakantham and non-agricultural land into the record.
Electronic records. Registration now runs on the electronic ROR (S.6-D): the Sub-Registrar does not insist on the passbook, and loans are entered in the electronic ROR (S.6-C).
22-A delisting (2026). In 2026 the AP Government began removing some categories (for example old assigned lands and lawfully auctioned temple lands) from the 22-A list. Check the current list before using it in a question.

Medha AI writes its own notes and checks them against the sources listed. Medha AI is an independent preparation service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to APPSC, TSPSC, MPSC, UPSC or any other commission or government body.

12.1.3 Land records and the ROR Act

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