Mutation Before Partition: Ordering Entries in a Joint Khasra
Village Rampur Kalan, Tehsil Nabha, has a joint khata in khasra 84/2 measuring 12 kanal 8 marla, held by four co-sharers: A (1/2), B (1/4), C (1/8) and D (1/8). B died in March leaving a widow and a nine-year-old son; the inheritance mutation has still not been attested. In June, A sold two kanals out of 84/2 to E by a registered sale deed and applied for mutation. E has already taken possession and begun ploughing. D objects that nothing can be recorded until B's succession is settled and the holding is formally partitioned. Separately, a one-kanal 'gair mumkin rasta' crosses the khasra and is used daily by three households. The patwari must process both applications, keep the jamabandi internally consistent, issue notice to the recorded co-sharers, and ensure that no co-sharer's interest is altered without being shown on the record.
1. Should the patwari attest the sale mutation before B's inheritance mutation is settled? Does D's objection legally bar the sale entry?
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No strict bar exists, because a mutation is only a record update and does not itself convey title; title passes under the registered sale deed. The two applications should be processed on their own facts, ideally in chronological order so the record reads logically: first B's 1/4 share is mutated to his widow and minor son as per the applicable personal law, then A's sale to E is entered.
D's objection is not a bar to recording the sale at all. It goes to the extent of what A could sell. Before partition, A owns an undivided 1/2 share, not a identified two-kanal plot; E therefore steps into A's share to the extent of 40 marlas and becomes a co-sharer in the khata, not owner of a separate khasra. The patwari should note the objection, give notice to all recorded co-sharers, and record E against A's share with a remark that the sale is of an undivided share.
2. How should the minor son's interest and the 'gair mumkin rasta' be shown in the record?
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The minor's 1/8 share (half of B's 1/4) must be entered separately in his own name, with the mother shown as guardian/manager; it cannot be merged into the widow's name or treated as her property. Any alienation of the minor's share requires the permission of the competent court, so the patwari should not accept a sale or mortgage of that share on the mother's signature alone.
The rasta is 'gair mumkin' - a pathway, not cultivable land. It is not partible and no co-sharer can be mutated as its owner. It should be shown in the remarks column as a common passage, and the area excluded from the partible holding. This prevents the pathway from being silently absorbed into one share at partition.
3. If partition is later sanctioned and A's sale is adjusted within A's share, what should each person's holding be, in kanal-marla?
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Total = 12 kanal 8 marla = (12 x 20) + 8 = 248 marlas. Deduct the rasta of 1 kanal = 20 marlas; partible area = 228 marlas.
Apply the shares: A = 1/2 x 228 = 114; B = 1/4 x 228 = 57; C = 1/8 x 228 = 28.5; D = 1/8 x 228 = 28.5. These sum to 228.
Now adjust A's sale of 2 kanals = 40 marlas to E: A retains 114 - 40 = 74 marlas; E gets 40 marlas. In field units: A = 3 kanal 14 marla; E = 2 kanal 0 marla; B = 2 kanal 17 marla; C and D = 1 kanal 8.5 marla each.
The half-marla is the practical problem: marla is normally the smallest field unit. The patwari should either record the fraction in the area column to two decimals, or, far better, ask C and D to adjust by agreement (for example 1 kanal 9 marla and 1 kanal 8 marla) and note the adjustment in the remarks column so that the total still equals 228 marlas.