AMARAVATI, October 27 — The Andhra Pradesh Revenue (Land Records & Surveys) Department published the formal extraordinary gazette notification operationalizing the repeal of the contentious Andhra Pradesh Land Titling Act, 2022. The enactment, passed during the previous legislative term, had drawn widespread criticism from legal associations, farmer cooperatives, and civil rights groups over the abrogation of civil court jurisdiction in property disputes.
In tandem with the repeal notification, the NDA government restored the statutory framework under the Andhra Pradesh Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971 (Act No. 26 of 1971), reinstating traditional land tenure protections and the evidentiary sanctity of physical land title deeds.
Restoration of Official State Emblem on Pattadar Passbooks
Under directives issued by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Revenue Minister Anagani Satya Prasad: - All previously issued passbooks bearing political portraits have been recalled and decommissioned. - A newly designed, high-security Pattadar Passbook-cum-Title Deed featuring exclusively the National Emblem of India (Ashoka Lion Capital) and the Andhra Pradesh State Seal has been instituted. - The revised passbooks incorporate advanced anti-counterfeiting features: tamper-evident microtext borders, embedded multi-layer holographic strips, and dynamic QR codes resolving directly to the Webland 2.0 digital verification gateway. - Free re-issuance will cover all 1.12 crore documented agricultural and non-agricultural property titleholders across the state's 17,930 revenue villages.
Restoration of Civil Court Jurisdiction & Due Process
The gazette notification permanently remedies several contested clauses of the repealed 2022 statute:
1. Access to Civil Judiciary Restored: Section 49 of the repealed Act had barred civil courts from entertaining suits related to land title disputes, channeling all grievances to executive Title Registration Officers (TROs) and appellate Land Dispute Tribunals. With the repeal, civil courts retain unhindered jurisdiction under Section 9 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908. 2. De-linking of Instant Mutation from Executive Fiat: Village revenue officers and executive magistrates are prohibited from making summary alterations to the Record of Rights (ROR) while title disputes or status-quo injunctions remain sub-judice before competent judicial benches. 3. Protection Against Indemnity Clauses: Landowners are no longer subjected to mandatory title insurance fees, and the absolute statutory presumption of state-guaranteed conclusive title—which risked legitimizing fraudulent transfers in administrative error—has been rescinded.
Revamped Digital Re-survey (Bhu-Aadhaar Integration)
The Revenue Department also issued revised guidelines for the ongoing comprehensive land survey (YSR Jagananna Saswatha Bhu Hakku Bhu Raksha, re-christened the Comprehensive Land Survey 2026): - Drone photogrammetry and Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) will continue to establish geo-referenced boundaries. - However, final 13(1) and 13(2) statutory survey notices will only be certified after on-ground physical boundary pegging and public dispute redressal Grama Sabhas attended by adjacent landholders. - Every verified parcel will receive an immutable 14-digit Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN / Bhu-Aadhaar).
Exam Relevance: APPSC Group-1 Mains (GS Paper II — Constitution, Governance & Judicial Review; Property Rights under Article 300A; GS Paper III — Land Reforms & Agrarian Relations in AP); APPSC Group-2 Prelims & Mains (AP Revenue Laws, ROR Act 1971, Survey and Boundaries Act 1923); AP Police SI & Constable (Land Frauds, Civil vs Criminal Jurisdiction in Property Trespass); Deputy Tahsildar / VRO Recruitment Exams. Key facts: Act repealed: AP Land Titling Act, 2022; Act restored: AP Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971; Core change: Civil court jurisdiction restored, political portraits removed from passbooks; Replaced with: State Emblem & QR-coded tamper-proof passbooks for 1.12 crore landholders; Digital tool: 14-digit ULPIN (Bhu-Aadhaar).