AFFIDAVIT OF LEGAL HEIRS IN SUPPORT OF A MUTATION OF INHERITANCE (VIRASAT INTKAL)
BEFORE THE CIRCLE REVENUE OFFICER, TEHSIL __________, DISTRICT __________, PUNJAB
Presented through the Halqa Patwari of the revenue estate of __________
IN THE MATTER OF the estate of the late __________, and of the mutation of inheritance of the holding described in the SCHEDULE to this affidavit
I, __________, __________, aged about __________ years, resident of __________, do solemnly affirm and state on oath as follows.
- THE DECEASED
1.1 __________, __________ ("the deceased"), who at the date of death was residing at __________, died at __________ on __________.
1.2 The deceased is recorded as an owner (malik) in the jamabandi of the revenue estate of __________, Tehsil __________, District __________, in the manner set out in the SCHEDULE below.
- HOW THE DEATH IS PROVED
The deceased is in fact dead, and the fact of the death is not in dispute in the family.
The death is proved by __________.
Every paper filed with this affidavit, beginning with the proof of the death, is listed by name in the ANNEXURE INDEX at the foot of the SCHEDULE below. This affidavit is not to be acted upon unless the proof of the death listed in that index is filed with it.
- WHO I AM AND WHY I CAN SWEAR TO THIS
I am the __________ of the deceased. I am an adult and of sound mind. I have personal knowledge of the family of the deceased, of the genealogy of the family as it appears in the shajra nasab kept with the record of the revenue estate, and of the facts stated in this affidavit, and I am competent to swear to them.
- THE DECEASED DIED INTESTATE
The deceased left no will, codicil or other testamentary disposition. I have made proper enquiry and, to the best of my knowledge, information and belief, no will of the deceased exists, and no will of the deceased has been produced or propounded by any person before any court, revenue officer or other authority. Succession to the estate of the deceased is therefore intestate succession.
- THE LAW THAT GOVERNS THE SUCCESSION
Succession to the estate of the deceased is governed by __________. The persons named in paragraph 7 are the heirs of the deceased under that law, and the shares in which the holding is to be mutated in their favour are the shares which that law gives them.
- MARITAL STATUS OF THE DECEASED
At the date of death the deceased __________.
- THE LEGAL HEIRS
7.1 The surviving legal heirs of the deceased are:
__________
7.2 The persons named in this paragraph 7, and no others, are entitled to share in the estate of the deceased and to be entered in the mutation of inheritance.
7.3 The genealogical table (shajra nasab) of the family of the deceased is filed with this affidavit and is listed in the ANNEXURE INDEX at the foot of the SCHEDULE. That table is true and complete, and the persons named in paragraph 7.1 correspond to it. I am aware that under paragraph 7.41(1) of the Punjab Land Records Manual the owners in a khewat are arranged in the order of the shajra nasab, and that the mutation will follow the tree.
- THE LIST IN PARAGRAPH 7 IS COMPLETE
8.1 Other than the persons named in paragraph 7, the deceased left no spouse, no son or daughter (whether born within or outside marriage, and whether by birth or by adoption), no parent, and no other person entitled to share in the estate under the law stated in paragraph 5. No child of the deceased was in the womb at the date of death and has since been born alive, other than as named in paragraph 7.
8.2 No person has been left out of paragraph 7 on the ground of sex, and every daughter of the deceased has been named. I am aware that where the deceased was a Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh or Jain and the holding is coparcenary property, a daughter is a coparcener in the joint family property by birth in her own right in the same manner as a son under section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 as amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, and that the Supreme Court held in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1, that that right does not depend on the father having been alive on 9 September 2005. Whether the holding described in the SCHEDULE is coparcenary property or the separate property of the deceased is not a matter I depose to, and this affidavit does not decide it: that question is not before the Circle Revenue Officer on a mutation of inheritance, and nothing in this affidavit is to be read as an admission upon it by any heir.
8.3 No heir named in paragraph 7 relinquishes, releases, surrenders, gives up, exchanges or transfers any share in the estate of the deceased by this affidavit. This affidavit is not a release, not a family settlement and not a partition (takseem). It records who the heirs are, so that the entry may be moved out of the name of the deceased and into the names of the heirs in their legal shares. Any division of the holding among the heirs is a separate matter, to be done afterwards by a separate and properly stamped instrument, or by partition before the competent revenue officer.
- WHAT IS ASKED FOR
9.1 I request that a mutation of inheritance (virasat intkal) of the holding described in the SCHEDULE be entered by the Halqa Patwari under section 34 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, and sanctioned by the Circle Revenue Officer, in favour of the heirs named in paragraph 7, in the shares to which they are entitled under the law stated in paragraph 5.
9.2 The holding to which this affidavit relates is __________.
9.3 I undertake to pay the mutation fee payable under section 38 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 at the time of attestation, and I am aware that under section 38(2) that fee is payable by the persons in whose favour the entry is made.
- WHAT THIS AFFIDAVIT IS NOT
10.1 This affidavit is a statement of fact made on oath. It is not a document of title, and it does not by itself vest, transfer or create any interest in any land.
10.2 I am aware that a mutation moves an entry and does not decide title; that under section 44 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 an entry in the record-of-rights or in the annual record is presumed to be true only until the contrary is proved or a new entry is lawfully substituted for it; and that under section 45 of that Act a person aggrieved by an entry must institute a suit for a declaratory decree.
10.3 I am aware that a mutation may not be entered or sanctioned in order to correct an entry already incorporated in the jamabandi, that paragraph 7.30 of the Punjab Land Records Manual bars it, and that such a correction is made by fard badar under paragraph 7.29 of that Manual — by the Circle Revenue Officer where it is confined to the current consigned jamabandi, and by the Sub Divisional Magistrate where it reaches back into earlier jamabandis.
10.4 If a will of the deceased comes to light, or if the estate is later administered under a grant or a decree of a competent court, that will, grant or decree prevails over this affidavit, and the mutation sanctioned upon this affidavit is liable to be corrected accordingly.
- PROCEEDINGS RELATING TO THE ESTATE
No suit, appeal, revision or other proceeding relating to the estate of the deceased, to the heirship of the deceased, or to the holding described in the SCHEDULE is pending before any civil court, revenue court, revenue officer or other authority; and no application for a succession certificate, letters of administration or probate in respect of the estate of the deceased has been made by me or, to the best of my knowledge, by any other person — except only as disclosed under the heading DISCLOSURE in this paragraph.
- UNDERTAKING AND INDEMNITY
12.1 If it is at any time found that a person entitled to share in the estate of the deceased has been left out of paragraph 7, or that any statement in this affidavit is false, I accept that the mutation sanctioned on the strength of this affidavit is liable to be corrected or cancelled in accordance with law, and I shall raise no objection to that being done.
12.2 I undertake to indemnify and keep indemnified the Government of Punjab, the Circle Revenue Officer, the Halqa Patwari and every person acting on this affidavit, against every claim, demand, action, proceeding, loss, damage, cost and expense arising from their having acted on it, including any claim made by a person who says that he or she is an heir of the deceased and has not been named in paragraph 7. I bind myself and my heirs, executors, administrators and legal representatives to this undertaking.
12.3 I am aware that a person who fails to report to the Halqa Patwari, within three months, the acquisition of a right in land is liable under section 39 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887, at the discretion of the Collector, to a fine not exceeding five times the fee that would have been payable on the mutation.
SCHEDULE
THE HOLDING TO WHICH THIS AFFIDAVIT RELATES
Revenue estate (village): __________
Tehsil: __________
District: __________
Jamabandi for the year: __________
Khewat and khatauni numbers: __________
Khasra (killa) numbers with area: __________
Share (hissa) of the deceased in the khewat: __________
Nature of the holding: __________
ANNEXURE INDEX
THE PAPERS FILED WITH THIS AFFIDAVIT
— Proof of the death, being __________.
— The genealogical table (shajra nasab) of the family of the deceased, brought up to date and attested, being the table sworn to in paragraph 7.3.
— A copy of the jamabandi entry (fard) of the holding described in this SCHEDULE, for the year __________.
— Photo identification of the deponent.
VERIFICATION
I, the deponent named above, verify that the contents of every numbered paragraph of this affidavit, of the SCHEDULE, of the ANNEXURE INDEX and of every paper filed with this affidavit, are true to my own knowledge; that no part of them is false; and that nothing material has been concealed. I make this affidavit knowing that the Halqa Patwari and the Circle Revenue Officer will act upon it in entering and sanctioning the mutation of inheritance, and knowing that a person who gives false evidence in an affidavit is liable to be prosecuted under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Verified at __________ on __________.
_______________________________
DEPONENT
__________
JURAT
Solemnly sworn or, the deponent objecting to being sworn, solemnly affirmed, and signed before me by the deponent above named, who is personally known to me or has been identified to my satisfaction, at __________ on __________. The oath or affirmation has been administered under section 3 of the Oaths Act, 1969, an affirmation being made under section 5 of that Act, and in the form prescribed by section 6 of that Act.
_______________________________
NOTARY PUBLIC / OATH COMMISSIONER / EXECUTIVE MAGISTRATE
(Signature, seal, registration number, and serial number in the notarial register)
NOTES FOR EXECUTION — these notes are not part of the affidavit and should be removed before printing the final copy
a. Buy the non-judicial stamp paper or the e-Stamp certificate in the deponent's own name. An affidavit carries only the small fixed duty under Article 4 of Schedule I-A to the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as in force in Punjab; ask the licensed stamp vendor at the Tehsil complex for the current denomination and buy that one.
b. Settle the proof of the death before you draft anything else. Paragraph 2 makes you name it on oath and the ANNEXURE INDEX lists it, so the paper has to exist: the Registrar's death certificate, or the Chowkidar's report and the register entry at the police station, or both. Where the death was never registered at the time, section 13 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 is the route back — within thirty days on the late fee, after thirty days and within a year on the written permission of the prescribed authority, and after a year only on the order of the District Magistrate, a Sub Divisional Magistrate or an Executive Magistrate authorised by the District Magistrate, following the substitution made by the Registration of Births and Deaths (Amendment) Act, 2023. Get that order first and describe it in the field provided.
c. Get a fresh fard before you fill in the SCHEDULE. A jamabandi is prepared every five years and mutations finally ordered up to 15 June go into the new one, so a fard from two years ago may not show the current khewat.
d. Do not sign before you reach the Notary or the Oath Commissioner. Carry photo identification, the proof of the death and the fard. Make sure the officer completes the jurat, affixes the seal and enters the affidavit in the notarial register, and note the register serial number.
e. Take to the Halqa Patwari, with this affidavit, everything listed in the ANNEXURE INDEX, and check the bundle against that index at the counter before you hand it over. Ask the Patwari for his own list as well before you swear anything, because he may want identification for every heir and a fresh tatima shajra on top of the index.
f. Report the death to the Halqa Patwari within three months of the date of death. Section 39 of the Punjab Land Revenue Act, 1887 allows the Collector to impose a fine of up to five times the mutation fee where it is not reported in time. Do not wait for a delayed registration order to come through before making that report — the two periods run separately.
g. The request can also be raised online at jamabandi.punjab.gov.in under "Mutation of Inheritance (Virasat Intkal)". The sworn affidavit still has to reach the Halqa Patwari on paper.
h. The notified Right to Service limit for attestation of an uncontested mutation is 45 days, with two days added where the papers are handed in at a Sewa Kendra, Fard Kendra or Saanjh Kendra. If it is not attested, the first appeal lies to the Sub Divisional Magistrate and the second to the Deputy Commissioner.
i. Keep at least three sworn originals: one for the Patwari, one for the family, and one for the bank or other office that will ask for it.