In a writ petition filed before the Jharkhand High Court to seek a direction upon the respondents to correct the name of the petitioner’s ancestor in Register II, rent receipt, present survey, and Record of Right (Hall Survey Khata) of a particular land, a Single Judge Bench of Justice Ananda Sen issued directions for verification of digital records by Circle Officers.,
The petitioner was aggrieved with the fact that the name of some other person had been recorded in the online register, even though the physical register and other documents reflected the name of the petitioner’s ancestor. It was submitted that the name had been correctly entered in the Revisional Survey Khatiyan, but somebody else’s name had been entered in the Current Survey Khatiyan.
The petitioner also asserted that in the digital records, other persons’ names had been recorded. He claimed to have approached the Circle Officer, Kuru by filing a representation, but nothing had been done.
The Court directed the petitioner to approach the said Circle Officer within three weeks and directed the Officer to go through the records as well as to pass an appropriate order after making necessary corrections, if it is found that the petitioner’s ancestor’s name reflected in the physical records. The entire process was directed to be concluded within 12 weeks.
The Court noted that several writ petitions had been filed whereby citizens approached the Court aggrieved by the fact that the entries made in the online portal of the land records maintained by the State of Jharkhand did not match with the physical records. The Court said that “either there are mistakes or discrepancies in the name of the person/Raiyat or the area of the land or the plot numbers and other discrepancies also, which is creating confusion.”
Further, the Court said that even though correct entries are made in the physical records, discrepancies crop up in digital records because of the mistakes and carelessness of the Data Entry Operators, who are employed by outsourced agencies. It was observed that there was no evidence to suggest that the entries in the digital records were duly verified by revenue officers and said that there was no mechanism to find out whether they are checked or verified by Revenue Authorities.
The Court said that the digital entry should be a mirror copy of the physical records and directed the Circle Officers of all districts to check and verify the online entries in respect of land details in the portal. It was directed that after the Circle Officer verifies and matches the entries to ensure that the digital entry is the mirror copy of the physical record, he would put his digital sign on the same. The Court ordered that only the authenticated entries would reflect in the online portal and directed modification in the software, if required, to be done immediately.
The Court clarified that the data that was already present on the digital platform was also to be verified and authenticated by Circle Officers by putting their digital signatures. It was held that during verification, if the Circle Officer finds some discrepancies in the existing online records, he must make necessary corrections as per the SOP. It was stated that moving further, if any citizen comes with a similar complaint, the same would be rectified immediately as per the SOP, if legally possible on the executive side, without judicial intervention.
The Secretary, Department of Revenue, Registration, and Land Reforms, Government of Jharkhand, was directed to issue administrative orders to ensure that the present order is strictly complied with. Thus, the petition was disposed of.
