UP Bhulekh Khatauni: How to Check Land Records Before You Buy

If you are buying a plot or farmland in Greater Noida, along the Yamuna Expressway, in Ghaziabad or in the villages around Noida, the seller’s word and a neat sale agreement are not enough. The first record to pull is the khatauni, the Uttar Pradesh record of rights. It is free to view online, and checking it takes about ten minutes. A full UP Bhulekh khatauni check involves more than that, though. You need to read the entries properly and then confirm three more things: the land’s category, whether it can lawfully be used for housing, and whether an authority has notified it for acquisition.

This guide explains how the portal works in October 2026, what each important entry means, and which other government portals to use alongside it.

Khatauni and khasra: what each record tells you

UP land records are organised around two numbers. Both appear on the portal, and buyers often mix them up.

• Khasra or gata number: the number of a single plot of land in a village. The portal treats “khasra” and “gata” as the same number and also shows a newer unique code for each gata.
• Khata number and khatauni: a khata is an account of land holders. The khatauni lists every holder in that account, their father’s or husband’s name and address, their share, and all the gata numbers that belong to the account along with their area in hectares.

The practical point is that one gata can be shared by several co-owners, and one khata can contain several gatas. A seller who “owns land in khasra 412” may in fact hold only a fraction of it, together with relatives.

How to pull the khatauni on upbhulekh.gov.in

The Board of Revenue’s Bhulekh portal was rebuilt as a new web application, so older screenshots in many guides no longer match. As of October 2026 the flow is broadly as follows.

1. Open upbhulekh.gov.in and go to the option for viewing the khatauni extract (uddharan khatauni).
2. Choose the district (janpad), then the tehsil, then the village. Village names are listed in Hindi, so keep the Hindi spelling of the village ready. Gautam Buddh Nagar villages fall under Sadar, Dadri or Jewar tehsils.
3. Search by khasra/gata number, by khata number, or by the holder’s name. You can also search by the gata’s unique code.
4. Type the captcha shown on screen and open the matching khata.
5. Read the extract on screen and save or print it for your file.

The copy you see is marked as an unverified copy (apramanit prati). That is enough for your own checks, but a bank or court will want a certified copy. The portal offers a certified copy through online payment, which uses an OTP to your mobile number. A notice on the portal limits a single mobile number to ten successful certified-copy payments a month.

The fee for a certified copy is shown at the payment step. Some district portals publish their own scale. Lucknow’s Bhulekh page, for example, charges ₹10 for the first ten pages and ₹5 for each further block of ten. On that scale a 25-page request costs ₹10 + ₹5 + ₹5 = ₹20. Lucknow also says it now issues certified copies of digitised records only online. Do not assume the same figures for Gautam Buddh Nagar or Ghaziabad. Check the amount on screen before you pay.

Reading the entries that matter

Most buyers look only at the owner’s name. The new extract carries more columns, and several of them are where problems show up.

Holders and shares

Check that every seller appears as a holder, with the same parentage and address as on their ID. Look at the share column. If three brothers each hold one-third, all three must sign, or the seller can convey only his own share.

Mutation details

The extract lists the basis of each change: the court or officer, the case or order number, the date, and the reason (sale, inheritance and so on). A recent mutation in the seller’s name, based on a sale deed a few months old, deserves a closer look at that deed. Some entries link to the underlying order on the revenue court system. Use that link to read the order itself.

Pending cases, mortgages and remarks

• Column 17: the computerised number of any revenue suit pending about the land. A case number here means someone is contesting the record.
• Column 18: mortgage status, with the bank or society, the amount and the date of any release. Agricultural loans against land are common, and an unreleased mortgage must be cleared before sale.
• Column 19: remarks. Orders, restrictions or notes against a gata often appear here.

The portal also has separate searches for public, government, enemy and evacuee property. It can also flag a village as being under consolidation (chakbandi) or survey. Land in a consolidation village can have its gata numbers and boundaries reworked, so treat old numbers with care.

Category (shreni) entries

Every khata carries a category (shreni) code, which tells you the type of holding. In broad terms:

• Category 1-ka: bhumidhar with transferable rights. Normally only this kind of holder can sell freely and seek a non-agricultural declaration.
• Other category 1 and 2 entries: include non-transferable bhumidhars and asamis (tenants) with restricted rights. Land in these categories usually cannot be sold freely.
• Categories 5 and 6: cover fallow and barren land, pasture, ponds, roads, cremation grounds and similar land. Most of it is public or Gram Sabha land and should not be in private hands at all.

The exact code list is published by the Board of Revenue, and third-party lists online often disagree. If the category on your khata is anything other than a plain transferable bhumidhari, ask the lekhpal or tehsildar to explain it in writing before you pay a token.

Worked example: what the seller actually owns

Suppose a khatauni for a village near the Yamuna Expressway shows gata 412 with an area of 0.1265 hectare. Three co-holders each have a one-third share, and the share has not been formally divided.

• Total area: 0.1265 ha = 1,265 square metres.
• One holder’s share: 1,265 ÷ 3 ≈ 421.7 square metres, or about 504 square yards (1 sq m ≈ 1.196 sq yd).
• A 200 square yard plot “carved out” for you is about 167 square metres. That fits within one holder’s share on paper, but nothing in the record says exactly which 167 square metres are his.

Until the holding is partitioned in the revenue records, you would be buying an undivided share, and the boundary on the ground depends on the co-owners agreeing. As the next section explains, co-owners of an undivided holding must also apply jointly for any non-agricultural declaration.

Section 80: has the land been cleared for non-farm use?

Under Section 80 of the UP Revenue Code, 2006, a bhumidhar with transferable rights can ask the Sub-Divisional Officer (SDM) to declare land as used, or to be used, for industrial, commercial or residential purposes. The rules, as amended in 2019, are:

• A declaration under Section 80(1) covers land already in non-agricultural use. One under Section 80(2) covers land intended for such use, and a boundary wall is a condition.
• The SDM is meant to decide within 45 working days, with written reasons if the application is refused.
• A Section 80(2) declaration lapses if the non-farm activity does not start within five years.
• No declaration can be made if it conflicts with the master plan. Inside a notified development or industrial authority area, the authority’s prior permission is required.
• All co-holders of an undivided holding must apply together. A single co-owner can apply for his share only after it has been divided.

The 2026 change for authority areas

In April 2026 the state amended Section 80(8) by ordinance, and the change was later re-enacted as the UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Act, 2026, effective from 8 April 2026. In the notified areas of development authorities, industrial development authorities, regulated areas and the Housing Board, an approved building permission, development permission or layout plan now counts as a Section 80(2) declaration. The authorities concerned include GDA in Ghaziabad, under the 1973 planning law, and Noida, GNIDA and YEIDA, under the 1976 industrial area law. After a prescribed inquiry, the revenue record must show the entry within 15 days, and no fee is charged at the time of declaration.

For a buyer, the practical reading is this. In an authority area, the lawful route to housing is an approved layout or building plan. If the seller has neither that approval nor a Section 80 order, the land is still agricultural on record. Ask for the order number, then check that the khatauni shows the corresponding entry. Remember too that a declaration can later be cancelled under Section 82. The Allahabad High Court has dealt with several such disputes, including Kanhaiya Lal Trust (2023).

Acquisition notices: YEIDA, GNIDA and others

Large parts of Gautam Buddh Nagar and the Yamuna Expressway belt fall within notified authority areas. YEIDA publishes lists of its notified villages, based on state notifications going back to 2001, for Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Hathras, Mathura and Agra. It also publishes its land acquisition and purchase settlement orders. GNIDA, Noida Authority and GDA have their own notified areas.

Before buying farmland or a “plot” in such a village:

• Check whether the village appears in the authority’s notified list.
• Look for the gata number in any acquisition or purchase notification, and in the authority’s planned land use for that sector.
• Ask the authority’s land department in writing whether the gata is acquired, under acquisition, or allotted. The khatauni may take time to reflect acquisition, so a clean record is not proof on its own.

Land under acquisition can be taken over for a project, whatever the seller tells you about compensation or a “settlement”. Areas near the Noida International Airport at Jewar see heavy acquisition activity, so be especially careful there.

Match the map on Bhunaksha

The UP Bhunaksha portal shows village maps with gata boundaries. Pick the district, tehsil and village, then click or search the gata to see its shape and neighbours. Two cautions:

• Maps are not yet available for every village. The portal itself reports villages without maps and plots where the map area differs from the record area.
• A map is not a demarcation. If the boundary matters, apply to the tehsil for measurement by the lekhpal and get a site report.

Check registered deeds and encumbrances on IGRSUP

The khatauni records rights, but deeds are registered with the Stamp and Registration Department. On igrsup.gov.in you can search registered property documents by name, registration number or khasra. You can also check the department’s list of prohibited properties and apply online for a non-encumbrance certificate (bharmukt praman patra), which is issued digitally. Under the department’s citizen charter, an urgent certificate is due on the third or fourth working day, depending on when the fee is paid. An ordinary one is due on the seventh working day.

Use the certificate to confirm that no other sale deed, agreement to sell or registered mortgage exists for the same gata. Compare every deed you find with the mutation entries on the khatauni.

A short pre-purchase checklist

1. Pull the khatauni for every gata in the deal and save a dated copy.
2. Confirm all holders, their shares and the category code.
3. Read columns 17, 18 and 19, and open any linked orders.
4. Get the Section 80 order or the authority’s approved plan. Then check that the khatauni shows it.
5. Check the authority’s notified villages and acquisition notices, and ask in writing.
6. Match the plot on Bhunaksha, and get it measured if the boundary is unclear.
7. Run an IGRSUP search and obtain a non-encumbrance certificate.
8. Have an independent advocate review the chain of title before you pay a substantial advance.

Many buyers find that a plot on raw farmland raises too many open questions. If so, an authority-allotted plot or a RERA-registered project is easier to verify. You can compare options in our Yamuna Expressway guide, the Greater Noida guide and the Ghaziabad guide, or browse listed projects.

Online records are updated by people and can lag behind orders on the ground. Treat this guide as a starting point for verification, not as legal advice, and confirm anything material with the tehsil, the authority and your lawyer.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• UP Bhulekh portal, Board of Revenue, Uttar Pradesh
• UP Bhunaksha village map portal
• IGRSUP, Stamp and Registration Department, Uttar Pradesh
• UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (PRS Legislative Research)
• UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, No. 6 (PRS)
• UP Revenue Code (Fourth Amendment) Ordinance, 2026, No. 14 (PRS)
• UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Act, 2026 notification summary (TeamLease RegTech)
• UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CaseMine)
• Allahabad HC on cancellation of Section 80 declaration, Kanhaiya Lal Trust (Verdictum)
• Allahabad HC on non-agricultural declaration, Sunita Agarwal (SCC Online)
• Lucknow Bhulekh certified copy service, District Lucknow
• YEIDA Acts and Rules: Land (notified villages, acquisition orders)
• UP Bhulekh Khatauni guide (Anantam IAS, updated October 2026)

Updated 20 October 2026. This article is general information, not legal or financial advice; check current rules and project details before you decide.