The mutation entry
When ownership or rights in land change (sale, inheritance, gift, mortgage, court order), the change reaches the village record through a mutation entry, the फेरफार, recorded in Village Form VI under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 framework.
Registration of a deed at the Sub-Registrar’s office and mutation in the revenue record are two different steps. A registered sale deed transfers the interest between the parties; the mutation is what makes the village record reflect it. Land where deeds were registered but mutations never happened carries a gap between reality and record. That gap is common, and costly to untangle later.
How an entry becomes final
A mutation is not final the moment it is written. The process involves notice to interested parties (the persons whose rights the entry touches) and an opportunity to object. Disputed entries go into a disputes register and are decided by the revenue officer; only a certified mutation flows into the 7/12.
This is why a ‘pending mutation’ matters to a buyer: until certification, the change it records is provisional. The e-Chawadi system exposes pending mutations digitally, which is what a report’s pending-mutation check reads.
The register as biography
Read in sequence, the mutation entries are the land’s biography: every recorded transfer, partition, inheritance and charge, each with a number, a date and the officer’s certification. A draft chain of title is essentially these entries arranged and cross-checked.
Gaps in the sequence are as informative as the entries. A generation of heirs who never mutated an inheritance means today’s seller may be one signatory among many needed. An entry cancelled after objection tells you a dispute happened, and invites you to find out how it ended.
What to ask for
For any serious purchase: the ferfar index for the survey number, extracts of every mutation cited in the 7/12’s इतर हक्क column, and an explanation, with documents, for any pending entry. A screening report assembles the recorded history and drafts the chain; a licensed advocate verifies it and gives the opinion.
This guide is general information about Maharashtra land records, not legal advice. For a decision about a specific parcel, consult a licensed advocate, and bring the documents.