What to check on a lalpurja before you buy land
The ownership certificate tells you who owns the plot, how big it is and what it is classed as. Here is what to read on it, and what to check elsewhere.
The lalpurja, or land ownership certificate, is the document that proves who owns a plot. Before money changes hands, read it carefully and check it against other records.
Read the certificate itself
- Owner's name. It should match the identity document of the person selling. If the owner has died, or the land is in a company's name, the person signing needs the authority to sell.
- Plot number and ward. These identify the plot in the land revenue office records.
- Area. Compare it with what you are being told and with the plot on the ground.
- Land class. Land is registered under a class such as residential, commercial or agricultural. This affects what you may build.
Check it against the office records
Take the plot number to the land revenue office and ask for a search. You are looking for anything that stops a clean transfer: an existing loan against the land, a court case, a government claim on part of the plot for road widening, or an old sale that was never completed.
The survey office holds the map. A copy of the map with the plot marked lets you check the shape and the boundaries against what you saw on the ground.
Walk the plot with the certificate in hand
Boundary stones move, and neighbours build walls in the wrong place. Walk the edges with the map, look at where the fences and walls actually sit, and ask the neighbours who owns what. If anything does not line up, get a surveyor to mark the boundaries before you commit.
Before you pay
Agree in writing what happens if the paperwork turns out to be wrong. Keep the deposit small until the search is clear, and do the transfer at the land revenue office, not privately.
This is a general checklist rather than legal advice. Rules and office practice change, and a lawyer who works on property transfers will spot things a buyer cannot.
