The government has notified Jammu and Kashmir Land Pass Book Rules, 2022.
Rules stipulate that the Land Pass Book (LPB), granted under Rules, may be used as a document for grant of any financial assistance by any financial institution.
The entries in it (LPB) will carry the same evidentiary value as if these were certified copies of the record-of-rights and other public record for all intents and purposes before the courts and the financial institutions including Banks.
“Rules, made by the government in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 22-A and any other provision enabling in this behalf of Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, Svt. 1996, will come into force on the date of its publication in the official gazette,” a notification of Revenue Department issued by Commissioner/Secretary to Government Vijay Kumar Bidhuri.
As per the Rules, each revenue village in the tehsil of the Union Territory of J&K will be the unit for issuance of ‘Land Pass Book’ (LPB) to a landholder, till the “objective of issuance of single LPB to landholder indicative of his total landholding in the Union Territory is achieved by the government.”
Each page of the ‘Land Pass Book’ will be digitally coded with QR Code, serially numbered and bear the name of the landholder to avoid tempering.
The QR code will be utilised for verifying the veracity of the digitally generated LPB. It will be issued against a payment of fee of Rs 100 from the landholder.
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Rules specify that no ‘Land Pass Book’ will be issued in respect of government land. Deputy Commissioner (DC) of the district will “cause to prepare LPB for every landholder of the revenue estate in his district as per Form-IV to enable the landholder to make its use for credit facilities and for other matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”
DC of the concerned district will notify the villages, whose land records have been digitized, for the issuance or generation of LPB in trilingual form. Every Tehsildar will publish a notice in the notice board of the Tehsil office, Niabat, Patwar Halqa. offices of Gram Panchayal in each village within the Tehsil area, inviting applications for issuance of ‘Land Pass Book’ within seven days of issuance of notification by the Deputy Commissioner. Tehsildar in his jurisdictional tehsil will be the authorized person for preparing and issuance of ‘Land Pass Book.’
Rules specify that each landholder will submit an application duly filled in to the authority online on the portal designated for the purpose by the government. The Tehsildar will, by order, dispose of the application within 7 days from the receipt of the application form and generate and issue LPB accordingly. He will be responsible for the correctness of every entry made in the LPB. It can also be downloaded by the landholder from the portal after payment of the prescribed fee.
“The Land Pass Book issued or generated under these rules and made up to date shall
remain in force until the next Jamabandi. Every LPB holder shall intimate the Tehsildar for any change occurred in the land records during the said period and get it updated. Failure to get it updated shall render Land Pass Book invalid,” the Rules stipulate.
In cases where the original LPB is lost, mutilated or damaged, a sum of Rs 100 will be charged to the landholder for issuance of the duplicate Pass Book. Tehsildar can revise the LPB suo moto in case of any change therein after giving an opportunity of being heard to landholder. Any revenue officer may direct the landholder to produce the LPB within 15 days of issuance of notice to him and the landholder will thereupon produce the LPB either personally or through authorized agent for making necessary entry.
“If there appears any mistake in the LPB, the same can be challenged by making an application to the Deputy Commissioner who shall make such appropriate orders to certify it, as he deems fit,” Rules stipulate. Every entry made in the LPB issued under these rules will be presumed to be true and correct until the contrary is proved. A financial institution granting any financial assistance to the holder of the LPB will inform the issuing authority i.e., Tehsildar concerned of the financial assistance given to the landholder on the security of his holding.
The Tehsildar concerned on receipt of the information from the financial institution will make an appropriate entry in the revenue records including LPB and the entries so made will have the effect of creating the charge in favour of the financial institution on the holding against which the entry has been made and the holder of the Pass Book will be debarred for alienating the said holding until the outstanding amount of the financial assistance granting by the financial institution has been repaid together with interest due (if any) thereon.
Rules mention that any person aggrieved by an order passed by the Tehsildar under Rule 3 may prefer an appeal before the Assistant Commissioner Revenue concerned within thirty days of the order passed by the Tehsildar. Similarly any person aggrieved by an order passed by the Assistant Commissioner Revenue under Rule 5 may prefer a revision before the Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district within thirty days of the order passed by the Assistant Commissioner Revenue.
“Notwithstanding anything contained in these rules, if it is revealed on subsequent verification or otherwise that the Land Pass Book should not have been granted or the contents thereof require modification, the Tehsildar or any officer superior to him namely Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Deputy Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner or Member, Board of Revenue, shall be competent to review the orders granting the said Land Pass Book and. after giving the person concerned an opportunity of making any representation which he or she may wish to make, pass such orders as he or she deems just and proper in the circumstance of the case, provided no such order shall be reviewed under this rule where an appeal or revision on the same issue was preferred and decided,” Rules specify.
As per Rules, failure or refusal to produce a Land Pass Book on demand by a Revenue Officer or interpolation or erasing anything in the LPB with intention to defraud any authority or make any false statement knowing or having a reason to believe the same to be false or alteration in the LPB by a person will be liable to punishment as prescribed under sub-section (19) of section 22-A and section 22-F of Jammu and Kashmir Land Revenue Act, Svt 1996.
The process of issuance of LPB from the date of notification will be monitored by the Deputy Commissioner concerned in the district. The Deputy Commissioner will be duly assisted by the Additional Deputy Commissioners, Sub-Divisional Magistrates, Assistant Commissioner Revenue at each level of hierarchy with random inspections of applications received, process initiated by issuing authority, issuance of Pass Books, entries in the Pass Books including recording of encumbrances and updation made.
“The Deputy Commissioners may devise the process of verification, quantum of test check by the revenue hierarchy in the district as may be deemed fit. If any question arises relating to interpretation of these rules, it shall be referred to the Revenue Department for decision,” ordered Bidhuri in the notification.