Field Measurement, Boundary Claim and Batai in Khasra 27/1
While correcting the field map of khasra 27/1 in village Bhikhi, the patwari measures a rectangular plot 220 ft long and 297 ft wide. Inside the plot is a square well enclosure, 33 ft by 33 ft, recorded as gair mumkin. The neighbouring landowner claims that a 3-ft-wide strip along the entire 297-ft side has been wrongly included in 27/1 and actually belongs to his khasra. He has no documentary evidence, only a hand-drawn line said to be forty years old. The patwari must not alter the map on oral claim alone, but must also not ignore a boundary dispute. Separately, he has to prepare a batai statement: the standing crop is wheat, expected yield 32 maunds per acre, and the landowner's share is one-third of the produce. Land revenue for the village is Rs 120 per acre. All areas must be reported in kanal-marla as well as acres.
1. Compute the net cultivable area of khasra 27/1 in kanal-marla and in acres, showing every conversion used.
Read the worked answer
Gross area = 220 x 297 = 65,340 sq ft.
Use the Punjab revenue units: 1 marla = 272.25 sq ft; 1 kanal = 20 marlas = 5,445 sq ft; 1 acre = 8 kanals = 160 marlas = 43,560 sq ft.
Gross = 65,340 / 272.25 = 240 marlas = 12 kanals = 1.5 acres.
Well enclosure = 33 x 33 = 1,089 sq ft = 1,089 / 272.25 = 4 marlas exactly.
Net cultivable area = 240 - 4 = 236 marlas = 11 kanals 16 marlas. In acres: 236 / 160 = 1.475 acres.
A common error is to deduct the well in feet and then convert the remainder with the wrong divisor; keeping everything in marlas first avoids that. The well is deducted because it is gair mumkin, not because it is unproductive in a revenue sense.
2. If the neighbour's 3-ft strip were accepted, what would change? Should the patwari accept it now?
Read the worked answer
Strip area = 3 x 297 = 891 sq ft = 891 / 272.25 = 3.27 marlas (approximately). Net area would fall to 236 - 3.27 = 232.73 marlas, i.e. 11 kanals 12.73 marlas, or 1.4545 acres - a reduction of about 1.4 per cent.
The patwari should not accept the claim at this stage. A 3-ft shift along a 297-ft side is a boundary-alignment question, not a simple arithmetic correction. It requires comparison of the shajra kishtwar, the neighbouring khasra's recorded dimensions and, if needed, a joint measurement in the presence of both parties. Oral tradition of a forty-year-old line is evidence to be tested, not a basis for changing the map.
The correct action is to record the dispute in the roznamcha, issue notice to the neighbour, and keep the existing measurement until the field boundary is verified. Any provisional entry must be clearly marked as subject to decision.
3. Using the net area, work out the batai share and the land revenue demand.
Read the worked answer
Net area = 1.475 acres.
Expected produce = 1.475 x 32 = 47.2 maunds.
Landowner's one-third share = 47.2 / 3 = 15.733 maunds = 15 maunds and (0.733 x 40) = 29.3 seer, so about 15 maunds 29 seer.
Tenant's share = 47.2 - 15.733 = 31.467 maunds, about 31 maunds 19 seer.
Land revenue = 1.475 x 120 = Rs 177.
If the disputed strip were eventually excluded, the figures would be: area 1.4545 acres, produce 46.55 maunds, landowner's share 15.52 maunds, revenue Rs 174.55. The point of the exercise is that every downstream figure depends on the area first being settled correctly - which is why the boundary claim cannot be brushed aside or accepted casually.