How to Resolve Land and Property Disputes in Bangladesh (2026): Routes, Deadlines and Remedies

How to resolve land disputes Bangladesh courts and tribunals hear: the 2026 framework

Knowing how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh law recognises begins with one uncomfortable fact: the same plot can be fought over in a land office, a survey tribunal, a civil court, a magistrate's court and a legal aid mediation room, often at the same time. Each forum answers a different question. The land office decides whose name goes in the khatian. The Land Survey Tribunal decides whether the survey record is wrong. The civil court decides title and possession. The criminal courts punish fraud and land-grabbing. Choosing the wrong door wastes years; choosing the right one, in the right order, is most of the battle.

This guide brings the routes together for 2026. It explains the main types of land and property dispute, the first steps to take, when a negotiated settlement or mediation is the better answer, mandatory pre-case mediation for partition and pre-emption under the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026, mutation challenges and record-of-rights correction, title, possession and partition suits, injunctions, the Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act 2023, section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, buyer and developer disputes, evidence, and the role of a property dispute lawyer. Recent High Court Division judgments illustrate how the routes work in practice.

Summary: Most land disputes in Bangladesh fall into a handful of categories: a wrong entry in the khatian, a disputed title, a lost or threatened possession, an undivided inheritance, a pre-emption claim, or a buyer–developer default. Errors in the final survey record go to the Land Survey Tribunal within one year; title, possession, cancellation and partition go to the civil courts; unlawful dispossession can also be reversed by an Executive Magistrate under the Land Crime Act within three months; and in 30 notified districts, partition and pre-emption claims must first go to legal aid mediation. Limitation periods, from six months to twelve years, decide which of these routes remains open.

Key point: The Land Survey Tribunal can correct the record of rights but cannot decide title. In July 2025 the High Court Division confirmed that a declaration of title must be sought in the civil court, even after a tribunal case on the same land has been dismissed. A record-of-rights case and a title suit are different remedies, and a serious land dispute often needs both.

At a glance

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Table of Contents

Types of land disputes in Bangladesh

Land disputes rarely arrive in a single category. An inheritance quarrel becomes a record problem when one branch mutates the land into its own name, and a possession problem when it fences the plot. Identifying each strand is the first step in working out how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh courts will treat as one case or several.

Record-of-rights and survey disputes

The khatian, or record of rights, names the holder, the plot (dag) numbers and the share. The Collector must keep it current by correcting clerical mistakes and recording transfers, inheritance, subdivision and amalgamation.[1] Revisional surveys produce a fresh record under section 144 of the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act 1950, published in draft for objections and appeals and then published finally.[1] Errors at either stage, such as a plot recorded in a neighbour's name, a wrong share or an omitted heir, are among the most frequent sources of litigation.

Title and ownership disputes

Title disputes ask who owns the land: a buyer against a second buyer from the same seller, heirs against a purchaser from one heir, or an owner against someone relying on a forged deed. The law now links title closely to the record of rights. Section 53C of the Transfer of Property Act 1882 provides that immovable property without a khatian in the seller's name, or in the name of the seller's predecessor for inherited land, is not to be sold.[6]

Possession and land-grabbing

Possession disputes concern who is physically on the land. They range from a neighbour moving a boundary wall to organised occupation of absentee owners' plots. Since 2023 unlawful occupation and dispossession without a court or authority order are criminal offences, in addition to the long-standing civil remedies.[2]

Partition, inheritance and pre-emption

Undivided inherited land is the classic source of family conflict. Co-sharers may agree a division, or one may sue for partition. When a co-sharer sells a share of an agricultural holding to an outsider, co-sharers by inheritance may claim pre-emption under section 96 of the 1950 Act.[1] Our guides to inheritance law in Bangladesh and joint property partition cover the succession rules that sit behind these disputes.

Mutation, boundary and developer disputes

Other common disputes include a contested mutation (namjari) order, a boundary dispute between adjoining owners, a dispute over land claimed as government khas land or under acquisition, and urban disputes between flat buyers, landowners and developers. The last category has its own statutory dispute clause, discussed below. Acquisition disputes follow a separate code, covered in our guide to land acquisition in Bangladesh.

Legal advice for property disputes: the first steps

The first week of a land dispute often decides the result. Before anyone files anything, the aggrieved party should secure the documents, establish what the khatian says, fix the limitation dates and stop any self-help that could become an offence. That discipline is the practical core of how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh-wide, whatever forum eventually hears the case.

Collect certified copies, not photocopies

Obtain certified copies of every khatian for the plot (the CS, SA, RS and city or BS records where they exist), the mutation file, land development tax receipts, the chain of registered deeds and any earlier court orders. Courts and tribunals rely on certified copies of public records; a photocopy of a deed found in a family trunk is a starting point, not evidence. The land ownership verification guide sets out a full title-check list.

Find out what the record says now

Entries in a finally published record of rights are presumed correct until proved incorrect by evidence.[1] A party whose name is missing from the latest record therefore starts on the back foot, and the first strategic decision is often whether to correct the record of rights, sue on title, or both. The answer depends on whether the error arose at the survey stage, through a mutation order, or through a deed.

Calendar every deadline

Limitation in land cases is unforgiving. A summary suit to recover possession must be filed within six months of dispossession; a suit to cancel an instrument within three years of learning the facts; and a suit for possession based on title within twelve years.[5] The Land Survey Tribunal has its own one-year window.[1] Record each date before talks begin, because negotiation does not stop time running, although time spent in mandatory pre-case mediation is excluded.[9]

Do not take the law into your own hands

Fencing, demolition or forcible re-entry can turn a strong civil case into a criminal complaint against the claimant. Dispossessing a lawful occupant without an order of a competent court or authority is itself an offence punishable with up to two years' imprisonment and a fine.[2] The lawful routes are fast enough in most cases if used promptly.

Choosing how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh-wide: negotiation, ADR or court

There are three broad answers to a land dispute: agree, mediate or adjudicate. They are not exclusive. Most cases that end well combine them, with a credible court case or tribunal filing creating the pressure that makes a settlement possible.

Negotiated settlement

A negotiated settlement works best when the parties are related, the facts are documented and each side faces real risk at trial. Families commonly divide inherited land by agreement, and neighbours settle boundaries by joint measurement with a surveyor. The settlement must then be made effective: a division or transfer should be reduced to a registered deed, mutation should follow in every party's name, and any pending suit should be withdrawn or compromised on record. An unregistered understanding recorded on stamp paper rarely survives the next generation.

The general principles of property dispute resolution apply: agree the facts before the remedies, value the land independently, separate possession from title, and write default terms into the deal.

Mandatory pre-case mediation for partition and pre-emption

Mediation is no longer optional for some land claims. Section 21B of the Legal Aid Services Act 2000, inserted by the Legal Aid Services (Amendment) Act 2026, requires a party to a scheduled dispute to apply first to a legal aid office for mediation. A suit may be filed only if mediation fails, with a report in the prescribed form, and the time spent in mediation is excluded from limitation.[9] The scheduled disputes include partition disputes within the jurisdiction of the civil judge's courts and house-rent disputes, alongside family, cheque and dowry matters.[10] Pre-emption cases under the State Acquisition and Tenancy Act also pass through the scheme, as the pilot figures below show.[11]

The obligation applies where the government has notified it. A pilot ran in 20 districts, and on 21 July 2026 the Law Minister, Md Asaduzzaman, launched it in ten more, including Bogura, Jashore, Cox's Bazar and Tangail.[11] In the pilot districts the minister reported that partition suits filed between February and May fell from 2,001 in 2025 to 661 in 2026, and pre-emption cases from 17 to 2.[11] A mediation agreement signed by the parties and the mediator and certified by the Chief Legal Aid Officer is final and binding and is treated as a decree or final order of a court, executable through the competent court.[9] The legal aid guide explains how to apply.

Court-annexed mediation and village-level settlement

Once a suit is pending, the civil court can still send it to mediation, and a settlement recorded there ends the case with a compromise decree. Our guide to court-annexed mediation covers the procedure, and the wider options are compared in mediation in Bangladesh. An informal shalish outcome binds the land only once carried into a registered deed, mutation or decree.

When court is the right answer

Litigation is the right first move where the other side is a stranger relying on a forged document, where possession has just been taken and the six-month window is running, where a sale or construction is imminent and an injunction is needed, or where the defendant has shown that talks are being used only to buy time. The table below compares the main routes. On a phone, scroll it sideways.

The forums that most often hear land matters are summarised below.

Correcting the record: mutation challenges and the Land Survey Tribunal

Correcting the record of rights follows two tracks. A mutation error arises in day-to-day maintenance of the record after a transfer or inheritance; a survey error arises in the revisional survey. The remedies, forums and deadlines differ.

Mutation and mutation appeals

Mutation updates the khatian after a transfer, inheritance or subdivision.[1] Where a co-sharer objects to a proposed correction, the Revenue Officer must hear both sides and pass a reasoned order before correcting the record.[1] Mutation is administrative. It records a claim; it does not create title, and a party who loses a mutation contest keeps whatever title the deeds and inheritance give them.

A mutation order can be challenged up the revenue hierarchy. In a case decided by the High Court Division in November 2024, a refusal by an Assistant Commissioner (Land) was taken in appeal to the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), then to the Additional Divisional Commissioner (Revenue), and finally to the Land Appeal Board.[14] Each step has its own time limit under the applicable rules, which should be checked on the day the order is received. Our land records, mutation and khatian correction practice handles these appeals.

Objections during the survey

The cheapest moment to fix a survey error is before the record is final. During a revision under section 144, the Revenue Officer publishes a draft record and considers objections to any entry or omission, and a person aggrieved by the decision on an objection may appeal to a revenue authority not below the rank of Assistant Settlement Officer.[1] Owners who live away from their land, including non-resident Bangladeshis, should appoint someone to watch for draft publication in their mouza.

Land Survey Tribunal suits

Once the record is finally published, the remedy moves to the Land Survey Tribunal. Under section 145A of the 1950 Act, a person aggrieved by the final publication of the last revised record of rights may sue in the Tribunal within one year of the final publication or of the Tribunal's establishment, whichever is later; a late suit may be admitted within a further year if the Tribunal accepts the reasons for delay.[1] The Tribunal is presided over by a Joint District Judge and must conclude the trial within 180 days of the date fixed for final hearing.[1] It may declare the disputed entry incorrect and direct the record to be corrected.[1]

Within a Tribunal's area, civil courts cannot entertain suits arising from the final publication of the last revised record.[1] Appeals lie to the Land Survey Appellate Tribunal, presided over by a District Judge, within three months of the Tribunal's decision, with a further three months available if the delay is explained.[1]

What the Tribunal cannot decide

The Tribunal corrects records; it does not decide ownership. In Shah Mamun Rumi v Md Amirul Huda (Civil Revision No 5810 of 2024, 15 July 2025), the High Court Division refused to reject a title suit merely because the plaintiffs' earlier Tribunal case had been dismissed for default, holding that "the Land Survey Tribunal has no jurisdiction to determine the question of title".[13] Where both the record of rights and the title are disputed, the usual approach is a Tribunal suit for correction and a civil suit for declaration, coordinated so that the evidence is consistent.

Civil suits: title, possession, cancellation and partition

The civil courts remain the principal forum for deciding who owns land and who is entitled to hold it. The Specific Relief Act 1877, the Partition Act 1893 and the Code of Civil Procedure supply the remedies; the Limitation Act 1908 fixes the deadlines. The land dispute litigation guide covers pleadings, court fees and trial in more detail.

Declaration of title

Section 42 of the Specific Relief Act allows a person entitled to property to sue anyone who denies that right for a declaration. The proviso is the trap: a court will not make the declaration where the plaintiff could have sought further relief, such as recovery of possession, and did not.[4] A plaintiff out of possession should therefore claim declaration and possession together. Declaratory suits that no other article covers fall under the residual six-year period in article 120 of the Limitation Act.[5]

Recovery of possession

There are two possession suits, and choosing between them is a matter of timing. Section 9 of the Specific Relief Act lets a person dispossessed without consent and otherwise than in due course of law recover possession regardless of any title the defendant sets up. No appeal or review lies from the decree, and no section 9 suit lies against the government.[4] The suit must be filed within six months of dispossession.[5] After that, the claimant must sue on title under section 8, within twelve years of dispossession or of the defendant's possession becoming adverse.[4] [5]

Cancellation of forged or void deeds

Where a deed is void or voidable against the plaintiff and its continued existence threatens serious injury, section 39 allows a suit to have it adjudged void and cancelled; if the deed is registered, the court sends its decree to the registration office to note the cancellation.[4] The limitation period is three years from when the plaintiff learns the facts entitling them to cancellation.[5] A forged deed may also found a criminal complaint under the Land Crime Act, discussed below.

Partition suits

A partition suit divides jointly held land into separate shares by metes and bounds. The Partition Act 1893 gives the court power to order sale instead of division in appropriate cases, provides a procedure where a sharer undertakes to buy, and deals specifically with a partition suit brought by an outsider who has bought a share in a family dwelling house.[7] In notified districts the claim must pass through legal aid mediation first.[10] See our partition suit guide for how preliminary and final decrees work.

Pre-emption

Pre-emption under section 96 gives a co-sharer tenant by inheritance a right to buy back a share sold to an outsider. The application must be made within two months of notice of the sale, or of knowledge of it, and never after three years from registration of the sale deed, with a deposit of the price, 25% compensation and simple interest at 8% a year.[1] The section does not apply to homestead land.[1] Missing the deposit is fatal: the application is dismissed.

Injunctions: holding the position while the case runs

Without interim protection, a defendant may sell, build or change the character of the land while the suit runs. A temporary injunction preserves the position until trial. Courts ask whether the plaintiff has a prima facie case, where the balance of convenience lies and whether the harm would be irreparable. The procedure, tests and appeals are explained in our guide to temporary injunctions in Bangladesh.

At trial, the court may grant a perpetual injunction to protect a property right where money compensation would not be adequate or damage cannot be measured, and a mandatory injunction where preventing a breach requires the defendant to do something, such as removing a structure.[4] Limits matter too. An injunction cannot be granted to stay proceedings in a criminal matter, nor where an equally effective remedy is available through another usual mode of proceeding.[4] A civil injunction therefore does not halt a Land Crime Act prosecution, and a party should not seek one for that purpose.

Criminal and magistrate routes: the Land Crime Act 2023 and section 145

For land-grabbing and fraud, the criminal law now offers real leverage. Understanding how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh-style in 2026 means knowing when to add a criminal route to a civil case, and when the criminal route is the wrong tool.

Offences under the Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act 2023

The Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act 2023 (Act No 36 of 2023) took effect on 18 September 2023.[2] Land fraud and land forgery each carry up to seven years' imprisonment and a fine.[2] Holding land without the latest khatian, inheritance, a lawful deed or a court order, or dispossessing a lawful occupant without an order of a competent court or authority, carries up to two years and a fine.[2] A seller who receives the full price and refuses, without reasonable cause, to hand over possession commits a separate offence with the same maximum.[2]

All offences under the Act are cognisable. Fraud and forgery are non-bailable; the others are bailable and compoundable. Trials are held before a First Class Judicial Magistrate or Metropolitan Magistrate and must finish within 180 days, and the court may order compensation for financial loss.[2] One safeguard protects genuine litigants: an heir or transferee who has filed a suit to correct the record or declare title does not commit the unlawful-possession offence.[2] The Act operates in addition to other laws, not in place of them.[2]

Restoration of possession by an Executive Magistrate

Section 8 of the 2023 Act gives a dispossessed person a fast administrative remedy. On application, the Executive Magistrate must hear both sides, inquire on the spot and decide whether the applicant was dispossessed without lawful process, restoring possession where appropriate, within three months.[2] Until rules are made, the procedure under section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure applies.[2] The route is closed while a civil suit for recovery of possession of the same land is pending, but a civil court may refer a pending case to the Executive Magistrate.[2]

Section 145 proceedings

Section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure 1898 allows a District Magistrate or a specially empowered Executive Magistrate, satisfied from a police report or other information that a dispute over land, water or their boundaries is likely to cause a breach of the peace, to require the parties to state their claims about actual possession.[3] Where the Magistrate cannot decide who is in possession, the property may be attached under section 146 and a receiver appointed until a competent court determines the rights.[3]

The remedy is narrow. In Abul Kalam v Md Abul Kashem (Criminal Miscellaneous Case No 7051 of 2021, 29 April 2024), the High Court Division held that there was no scope to restore possession beyond 60 days of dispossession, that the precondition of a likely breach of the peace must be met, and that section 145 was not the proper recourse for a dispute between brothers over undivided inherited land.[12] Section 145 keeps the peace; it does not decide title.

Using the criminal route responsibly

A criminal complaint is powerful against an outsider who forged a deed or seized land, but risky in a family partition or inheritance dispute, where it may be dismissed and damage the civil case. False complaints are also common. A party facing an abusive prosecution should consider quashing proceedings through our section 561A criminal quashment practice.

Real estate dispute resolution: buyers, landowners and developers

Urban property disputes most often involve a flat buyer, a landowner who contributed land to a joint venture, and a developer. The Real Estate Development and Management Act 2010 sets both the substantive protections and a mandatory dispute route, summarised in our overview of real estate law in Bangladesh.

Statutory protections for buyers

After full payment, the developer must hand over possession and complete execution and registration of the deed within three months.[8] If it fails to hand over within the contractual period, section 15 requires it to refund everything paid together with the contractual compensation within six months; where the contract fixes no rate, compensation is 15% of the total paid.[8] A buyer who agrees to extend the handover date in a supplementary agreement does not lose that compensation.[8]

Negotiation, then arbitration

Section 36 requires the buyer, developer or landowner first to try to settle disputes over breach of the agreement or specified offences. If a party will not cooperate, the other may give notice of arbitration under the Arbitration Act 2001, and the recipient must join in forming the tribunal within 30 days. The award binds the parties, and no objection to it may be raised in any court. If the tribunal is not formed within 30 days, either party may sue.[8] Our real estate disputes practice runs these arbitrations and the suits that follow when a developer refuses to engage.

Evidence: how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh courts decide on paper

Land cases are won on documents and the credibility of the witnesses who explain them. The strongest files share the same features.

• A complete record chain. Certified copies of every survey record for the plot, with the dag and khatian numbers reconciled across surveys, and the mutation history.
• A complete deed chain. Registered deeds tracing title back through each transfer and inheritance, with any heba or partition deeds and the relevant succession certificates or family trees.
• Possession evidence. Land development tax receipts, utility connections, crop and lease records, photographs, local witnesses and, where relevant, a court-appointed commissioner's local inspection report.
• The presumption. A finally published record of rights is presumed correct until disproved, so the party attacking it must bring positive evidence, not suspicion.[1]
• Forensic support. In forgery cases, handwriting comparison and the sub-registry volumes.

Gaps in the chain should be explained before filing, not discovered in cross-examination. The land law framework guide explains the successive surveys and records that produce these documents.

Step by step: how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh practitioners follow

Every case differs, but a disciplined sequence avoids the most expensive mistakes: missing a deadline, filing in a forum without jurisdiction, or settling on terms that cannot be enforced.

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Several routes can run at once, but a Land Survey Tribunal suit, a title suit and a criminal complaint about the same land must tell the same story.

Land dispute case studies: how the routes work in practice

The three reported cases below show how the High Court Division treats the main routes. The two scenarios that follow are illustrative composites rather than real cases, showing how the steps fit together when deciding how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh families and buyers commonly face.

Mutation refused despite a civil decree

In Md Nazmul Haque v Government of Bangladesh (Writ Petition No 13337 of 2022, 21 November 2024), the petitioner had won declarations of right, title and possession in the civil courts and had possession restored, but the Assistant Commissioner (Land) refused mutation and three tiers of revenue appeal, ending with the Land Appeal Board, upheld the refusal.[14] The High Court Division held that failure to follow competent courts' decisions can be an abuse of power and directed mutation within 60 days.[14] Where the revenue authorities ignore a civil decree, a writ petition is the remedy.

A tribunal case does not bar a title suit

In Shah Mamun Rumi, the defendants argued that the plaintiffs' dismissed Land Survey Tribunal case barred their later title suit. The High Court Division disagreed: the Tribunal case sought correction of the record of rights, the civil suit sought a declaration of title, and the Tribunal had no jurisdiction over title.[13] The lesson is to choose remedies by the question each forum can answer.

Section 145 is not a partition tool

In Abul Kalam, two brothers who had inherited land from their father without partition by metes and bounds fought over possession through section 145 proceedings. The High Court Division affirmed the Magistrate's refusal to treat either brother as in exclusive possession and held that section 145 was not the proper route to decide possession between co-heirs.[12] The correct route was partition, which in a notified district now begins with legal aid mediation.[10]

Illustrative scenario: the absentee owner

An owner working abroad learns that a stranger has fenced her plot near a district town and is offering it for sale with a deed she never signed. Her advisers obtain certified copies of the khatian and the purported deed within days. Because the dispossession is recent, they apply to the Executive Magistrate for restoration under section 8 of the Land Crime Act, lodge a forgery complaint, and prepare a suit to cancel the deed within the three-year window, with an injunction against sale.[2] [5] No civil possession suit is filed while the magistrate's application is pending, because a pending civil possession suit would bar it.[2]

Illustrative scenario: three heirs and an outside buyer

Three siblings inherit agricultural land. One sells his undivided share to a neighbour, who then demands a separate plot. In a notified district, the siblings first take the partition dispute to the district legal aid office.[10] The other two also consider pre-emption, which must be claimed within two months of notice or knowledge with the full statutory deposit.[1] The mediation produces a certified agreement allotting specific plots, which is then carried into mutation for each party.[9]

The role of a property dispute lawyer

A property dispute lawyer adds most value at the start, by diagnosing which strands of the dispute exist and which forum can resolve each one. Much of the cost of land litigation comes from cases filed in the wrong forum or out of time, and from settlements never registered or mutated.

The work spans title and record investigation, settlement and legal aid mediation, Land Survey Tribunal suits, title, possession, partition and pre-emption litigation, injunctions, Land Crime Act and section 145 proceedings, developer arbitrations, and enforcement through execution, mutation and writ. For non-resident owners it also means acting under a properly executed power of attorney.

Choose a lawyer who will read the record and deeds personally, explain which remedy answers which question, give a realistic timetable and say plainly when settlement is the better commercial outcome. Knowing how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh courts take years to decide is often a matter of knowing when not to litigate.

What to watch in 2026 and 2027

Three developments will shape land dispute practice over the next year. First, mandatory pre-case mediation is spreading district by district, and partition and pre-emption claimants should check the current notification before filing anywhere.[11] Second, the Land Crime Act's restoration route is becoming the first call for recent dispossession, and the rules expected under section 8 will replace the interim reliance on section 145 procedure.[2] Third, the courts continue to police the boundary between record correction and title, as Shah Mamun Rumi shows.[13]

The direction is clear: mediation, administrative restoration and specialised tribunals for what they can handle, and the civil courts for genuine questions of title. Anyone working out how to resolve land disputes Bangladesh-wide in 2027 should map each strand to its forum early and protect every deadline.

Frequently asked questions

What is the first step in a land dispute in Bangladesh?

Obtain certified copies of the latest khatian, earlier survey records, the mutation file and the deed chain, then calendar the limitation dates. Those documents show which forum can resolve the dispute and how quickly you must act.[1] [5]

How do I correct a wrong entry in the record of rights?

Before final publication, object during the survey. After final publication of the last revised record, sue in the Land Survey Tribunal within one year, extendable by a further year for good cause. Mutation errors are challenged through the revenue appeal hierarchy.[1] [14]

Can the Land Survey Tribunal decide who owns the land?

No. The High Court Division held in 2025 that the Tribunal has no jurisdiction to determine title. A declaration of title must be sought in the civil court.[13]

Is mediation compulsory before a partition suit?

In notified districts, yes. Section 21B of the Legal Aid Services Act 2000 requires partition and other scheduled disputes to go first to the legal aid office, and a suit may be filed only if mediation fails.[9] [10]

How long do I have to sue after being dispossessed?

Six months for a summary suit under section 9 of the Specific Relief Act, which succeeds regardless of title. After that, a possession suit based on title must be brought within twelve years.[4] [5]

Is land-grabbing a crime in Bangladesh?

Yes. Under the Land Crime Prevention and Remedy Act 2023, unlawful occupation and dispossession carry up to two years' imprisonment, and land fraud or forgery up to seven years.[2]

Can a magistrate give me my land back?

An Executive Magistrate can restore possession under section 8 of the Land Crime Act after hearing both sides and inspecting the land, within three months. The route is unavailable while a civil possession suit on the same land is pending.[2]

What does section 145 of the Code of Criminal Procedure do in land disputes?

It lets a Magistrate prevent a breach of the peace by deciding who is in actual possession, or attaching the land if that cannot be decided. It does not decide title, and the High Court Division has held it unsuitable for disputes between co-heirs.[3] [12]

How are disputes with a developer resolved?

The parties must first try to settle; if that fails, either may give notice of arbitration, and the other must join in forming the tribunal within 30 days. If it does not, a suit may be filed.[8]

Does mutation prove ownership?

No. Mutation updates the khatian after a transfer or inheritance; title depends on the deeds and succession. But a finally published record is presumed correct until disproved, so an accurate khatian is valuable evidence.[1]