Model: succession mutation order under s.7 Bhu Bharati

Under Dharani, succession mutation was a portal transaction with no human enquiry and no appeal. Bhu Bharati deliberately reversed that: s.7 puts a notice-objection-enquiry procedure back into the Tahsildar’s hands and s.15 puts an appeal over it. That history is why the drafting matters — the order is the record of the very safeguards the Act was passed to restore, and the RDO hearing the first appeal reads it looking for each one.

When you need this

A pattadar dies and the heirs apply on the Bhu Bharati portal — a joint statement of the family members where the succession is intestate, or the will and its particulars where it is testate — with the fee under Schedule B of the Rules. The proviso to s.7 keeps non-agricultural property in Panchayat and municipal records out of this channel, and acquisitions through court decrees, Lok Adalat awards, revenue orders and assignments go to the RDO under s.8, not here. What remains — the ordinary death-of-a-pattadar case — is the highest-volume quasi-judicial order a Tahsildar signs, and the model a probationer in independent charge of a mandal needs first.

The model

PROCEEDINGS OF THE TAHSILDAR, [NAME OF MANDAL] MANDAL
Present: [NAME OF OFFICER], Tahsildar

Procs. File No. [APPLICATION NO.]/[YEAR], dated [DATE]

Sub:  Bhu Bharati Act, 2025 — mutation by succession — land in Sy.No.
      [SY.NO.] of [NAME OF VILLAGE] village, [MANDAL] mandal — death of
      pattadar [NAME OF DECEASED] — application of [NAME OF APPLICANT]
      and others — Orders — Issued.

Read: 1. Application No. [PORTAL APPLICATION NO.] dated [DATE] filed on
         the Bhu Bharati portal by [NAME OF APPLICANT] and [NUMBER]
         others, with joint statement of family members [OR: with the
         will dated [DATE] and probate/particulars thereof], death
         certificate No. [NUMBER] dated [DATE], and fee paid under
         Schedule B of the Rules vide receipt No. [NUMBER].
      2. Notice dated [DATE] issued to the affected parties, and the
         acknowledgments/service endorsements thereon.
      3. Objection petition dated [DATE] of [NAME OF OBJECTOR] [OR: Nil
         objections received].
      4. Enquiry report of the Revenue Inspector, [FIRKA], dated [DATE],
         with the statement of the Grama Palana Officer and the
         panchanama of possession dated [DATE].
      5. The Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025,
         s.7, and the Rules issued in G.O.Ms.No. 39, Revenue (Lands),
         dt. 14-04-2025.

ORDER:

1. The late [NAME OF DECEASED], S/o [FATHER'S NAME], was the recorded
   pattadar of the land in Sy.No. [SY.NO.] of [NAME OF VILLAGE] village,
   admeasuring Ac. [EXTENT], held under khata No. [KHATA NO.], as per the
   Record of Rights. He/She died on [DATE], as evidenced by the death
   certificate 1st read.

2. The applicants claim mutation by succession as the legal heirs of the
   deceased, being [RELATIONSHIPS — e.g. the widow, two sons and one
   daughter], as set out in the joint statement filed with the
   application [OR: under the will dated [DATE]].

3. Notice of the application was issued on [DATE] to all persons
   appearing to be affected, namely [NAMES AND RELATIONSHIPS], and was
   served on [DATE(S)] as per the endorsements 2nd read. [WHERE
   APPLICABLE: Notice was also published at the village chavadi.]

4. In response, [NAME OF OBJECTOR] filed the objection 3rd read,
   contending that [SUBSTANCE OF OBJECTION — e.g. she is a daughter of
   the deceased omitted from the joint statement]. The objector and the
   applicants were heard on [DATE]. [OR: No objections were received
   within the time allowed.]

5. The enquiry 4th read establishes that: (a) the deceased died
   intestate leaving [NUMBER] legal heirs, namely [NAMES], and no others;
   (b) the applicants and the objector are in joint possession and
   cultivation of the land; and (c) there is no court order, registered
   transaction or attachment inconsistent with the claimed succession.

6. On the material aforesaid, the objection of [NAME OF OBJECTOR] is
   [UPHELD/OVERRULED] for the reason that [REASON — e.g. her status as a
   legal heir is established by the school and family records produced,
   and the applicants have conceded it at the hearing].

7. In the result, in exercise of the powers conferred by s.7 of the
   Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025, mutation
   by succession is ORDERED in respect of the land in Sy.No. [SY.NO.]
   of [NAME OF VILLAGE] village, Ac. [EXTENT], as follows:

      [NAME OF HEIR 1] ([RELATIONSHIP])  —  Ac. [EXTENT]
      [NAME OF HEIR 2] ([RELATIONSHIP])  —  Ac. [EXTENT]
      [NAME OF HEIR 3] ([RELATIONSHIP])  —  Ac. [EXTENT]

   The Record of Rights shall be amended accordingly on the portal; the
   consequential sub-division of the survey number shall be carried out
   and the survey map updated; the entries shall be carried into the
   Village Accounts; and Pattadar Pass Book-cum-Title Deeds shall issue
   to the persons above-named on payment of the prescribed fee.

8. This order is passed within 30 days of service of notice, the notice
   having been served on [DATE].

9. Any person aggrieved by this order may prefer an appeal to the
   Revenue Divisional Officer, [DIVISION], within 60 days from the date
   of this order, under s.15 of the Act.

                                             [SIGNATURE]
                                             ([NAME OF OFFICER])
                                             Tahsildar, [MANDAL]
To
   The applicants and the objector.
Copy to: The Grama Palana Officer, [VILLAGE], for entry in the Village
Accounts; the Revenue Inspector, [FIRKA]; stock file.

Anatomy — why each part is there

1. The “Read” list, beginning with the portal application. Section 7 proceedings start on the portal and end on it — the order you draft is uploaded against the application number, and the RoR amendment executes it. Listing the application by portal number, with the joint statement or will, the death certificate and the Schedule-B fee receipt, ties the paper order to the electronic case and shows the application was complete when the clock started.
2. The recital of the deceased’s recorded holding (para 1). Mutation moves an existing entry; the order must first fix what that entry was — survey number, extent, khata — because the RoR carries a presumption of correctness (s.11) and your order is about to change it. An order that mutates more land than the deceased held is the classic portal-era error this recital catches.
3. The heirship recital (para 2). Intestate cases run on the joint statement of the family; testate cases on the will. Saying which, on the face, matters: the enquiry that follows is different (family-tree verification against genuine omission, versus the will’s authenticity), and the appellate court will want to know which footing the order stood on.
4. The notice recital (para 3). The heart of the order. Section 7 requires the Tahsildar to issue notice to the affected parties before mutating; the recital names them, gives the dates of issue and service, and points to the acknowledgments on file. The RDO’s first question in a s.15 appeal is always “who was noticed?” — an order silent on service is presumed to have skipped it, and orders passed without notice to a known heir do not survive.
5. The objections-and-hearing recital (para 4). Whether objections came or not, say so. “No objections received within the time allowed” is a finding, not filler — it is what makes an unopposed order safe. Where an objection came, the recital shows the objector was heard on a date, which is the difference between considering an objection and filing it.
6. The enquiry findings (para 5). The Act restored enquiry before mutation precisely because Dharani had none. The findings tie to the RI’s report and the possession panchanama, and cover the three things that sink succession mutations later: a concealed heir, possession inconsistent with the claim, and an inconsistent transaction or court order already on the record.
7. The reasoned disposal of the objection (para 6). One sentence of actual reason. “Objection overruled” alone is the appealable defect; “overruled because—” is a decision.
8. The operative paragraph with the distribution table (para 7). Self-contained and executable: each heir, each share, each consequential step — RoR amendment, sub-division and map update (s.13 carries RoR changes into the survey records and Village Accounts), and issue of pass books (s.10). The table format exists because a prose distribution among four heirs is where transcription errors breed.
9. The 30-day recital (para 8). The Rules require orders within 30 days of service of notice — and if no order is passed in time, the mutation is deemed to have been effected in the applicant’s favour. Reciting the service date and the compliance protects the order both ways: it shows the clock was met, and it fixes the date from which any deemed-mutation argument would run.
10. The appeal clause (para 9). First appeal lies to the RDO within 60 days under s.15. Stating the remedy on the face is standard fair-order practice, and it starts the limitation conversation honestly.

Adaptation traps

• Using this model for a s.8 case. Court decrees, Lok Adalat awards, revenue-court orders and government assignments go to the RDO under s.8, on a similar notice-enquiry procedure. A Tahsildar’s order mutating on a decree is an order without jurisdiction, however well drafted.
• Noticing only the applicants. The affected parties include the heirs who did not apply — the married daughter left out of the joint statement is the archetypal appellant. The notice list is built from the family tree the enquiry verifies, not from the application.
• Letting the clock produce a deemed mutation by neglect. The 30-day period is not decoration: sit on a defective application without orders and the applicant may claim mutation by default, concealed heir and all. If the application cannot be decided — a genuine title dispute, pending litigation — pass a reasoned order saying so within time, rather than passing nothing.
• Mutating disputed or barred land as if routine. Land in Part-B, land on the prohibited list, assigned land, endowment or wakf land each carries its own bar or its own competent authority. The enquiry finding at para 5(c) exists to force that check before the operative para, not after the appeal.
• Copying the shares without applying the personal law. The distribution table must come from the succession law applicable to the family, worked out in the enquiry — not from whatever proportion the applicants typed into the portal.

An illustrative skeleton for learning — always draft from the current Act, Rules and standing instructions, and have your first drafts settled by your senior.