APPLICATION FOR CONVERSION FROM LEASEHOLD TO FREEHOLD LAND TENURE

Estate Office Annexure-XVII.1, with the affidavit regarding building violation and misuse at Annexure-XVII.2

To

The Estate Officer, Union Territory of Chandigarh
Town Hall Building, Sector 17-C, Chandigarh 160017

Through the Assistant Estate Officer, who is the designated officer for this service under the Right to Service notification dated 30 March 2026.

Subject: Conversion from leasehold land tenure into freehold land tenure in respect of __________, File No. __________, under the Chandigarh Conversion of Residential Leasehold Land Tenure into Free Hold Land Tenure Rules, 1996.

PART A is the application and goes on plain paper. PART B is the affidavit required by item 2 of the Estate Office checklist for this service, and every recorded lessee swears one, each engrossed on its own non-judicial stamp paper of Rs 100. Each Part carries its own description of the property, because the Parts go on different papers and each must stand on its own. PART C lists what travels with them. File the whole set at the Estate Office counter, or upload it through Citizen Services at estateoffice.chd.gov.in.

PART A — THE APPLICATION

Dated __________

Sir or Madam,

A.1 I am __________, __________, aged __________ years, resident of __________, identified by __________, mobile __________. I am the person who signs this application at the foot of PART A and who swears the affidavit at PART B-1.

A.2 I sign this application as __________.

A.3 The property to which this application relates is described in the Schedule at the foot of PART A, and I call it the said property throughout. It stands recorded in the Estate Office in the name of __________, __________, as lessee. Where A.2 says that I apply as the lessee on my own behalf, the lessee so recorded is me and the particulars given in A.1 are my own.

A.4 The recorded lessee holds the leasehold interest in the said property as __________.

A.5 The said property is __________. It measures __________, and it was originally allotted or auctioned on __________.

A.6 The particulars of the lease deed are these: __________

A.7 I APPLY under the Chandigarh Conversion of Residential Leasehold Land Tenure into Free Hold Land Tenure Rules, 1996 for the conversion of the leasehold land tenure of the said property into freehold land tenure; for the assessment and intimation of the conversion charges payable; for the issue of a conversion letter upon payment of those charges; and thereafter for the execution and registration of a deed of conveyance in respect of the said property in favour of the recorded lessee or lessees.

A.8 I understand what conversion does and what it does not do. Upon conversion the said property ceases to be held upon lease, so that annual ground rent under Rule 12 of the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007 ceases to accrue, one-third of the unearned increase under Rule 7(ii) of those Rules ceases to be payable upon a transfer, and the No Objection Certificate of the Estate Officer ceases to be a precondition of a transfer. Nothing in this application is to be read as a request for the waiver of any amount that has already accrued, or as an application for the regularisation of anything.

A.9 As to the Occupation Certificate, __________.

A.10 As to mortgage, __________.

A.11 Save as disclosed in this application, ground rent and all other dues payable to the Estate Office in respect of the said property have been paid up to __________, as the User Account Statement for the said property at estateoffice.chd.gov.in shows. I undertake to pay whatever further amount the Estate Office finds due on reconciliation of the account, together with any interest and penalty lawfully leviable upon it, before the conversion letter issues.

A.12 As to exemption, __________.

A.13 I am ready and willing to pay the conversion charges assessed by the Estate Office __________. I understand that the conversion charges are calculated upon the collector rate for residential urban areas notified by the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Collector, Union Territory of Chandigarh, that they therefore change with every revision of those rates, and that my own assessment is not binding upon the Estate Office.

A.14 I undertake to bear the stamp duty and the registration fee upon the deed of conveyance, and I acknowledge that Rule 9 of the said Rules of 1996 requires that deed to be registered upon payment of the requisite stamp duty and registration charges, the consideration for that purpose being the conversion fee and the surcharge where applicable.

A.15 I undertake that the said property will continue to be used only for the purpose for which it was allotted, that no construction will be raised upon it otherwise than in accordance with a building plan sanctioned by the competent authority, and that conversion to freehold tenure will not be treated as relieving the said property of the building rules, of Rule 16 of the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007 prohibiting fragmentation and amalgamation, or of the prohibition upon the fragmentation, division, bifurcation and apartmentalisation of a residential unit laid down by the Supreme Court on 10 January 2023 in Residents Welfare Association and another v. Union Territory of Chandigarh and others, SLP(C) Nos. 4950 and 5489 of 2022.

A.16 All the documents required by the Estate Office checklist for conversion from leasehold to freehold are annexed to this application. The affidavit regarding building violation and misuse forms PART B below, and where there is more than one recorded lessee each of them swears a separate affidavit on separate stamp paper.

A.17 DECLARATION. I undertake that the title which may pass upon payment of the conversion charges is liable to be cancelled at any stage if it is found that the information in this application is either wholly or partly false, or that any material fact has been concealed.

Kindly assess the conversion charges, intimate the demand, and issue the conversion letter in respect of the said property from leasehold to freehold land tenure.

Thanking you,

Yours faithfully,

______________________________
__________
__________
__________
Mobile: __________
Signing as __________
Date: __________ Place: Chandigarh

SCHEDULE TO PART A — THE SAID PROPERTY

PART B — AFFIDAVIT REGARDING BUILDING VIOLATION AND MISUSE

Annexure-XVII.2 to the Estate Office checklist

Each affidavit in this PART is engrossed on its own non-judicial stamp paper of Rs 100, bought in the name of the person swearing it, and is attested by __________. PART B-1 is sworn by the applicant. Where there is a second or a third recorded lessee, PART B-2 and PART B-3 below are their affidavits, and each is a separate document on separate paper — one person's affidavit does not carry another's, and a countersignature on somebody else's affidavit is not an affidavit at all.

PART B-1 — AFFIDAVIT OF THE APPLICANT

Sworn at Chandigarh on __________

I, __________, __________, aged __________ years, resident of __________, identified by __________, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare on oath as follows.

B.1 That I am __________; that the property described in the Schedule to this affidavit, being __________, File No. __________, which I call the said property, stands recorded in the Estate Office in the name of __________, __________, as lessee and is held upon leasehold land tenure; and that conversion of that leasehold land tenure into freehold land tenure has been applied for by the application at PART A dated __________.

B.2 That __________.

B.3 That __________.

B.4 That, save as disclosed in this affidavit, there is no misuse of the said property and no building violation upon it, and no part of the said property has been fragmented, divided, bifurcated, apartmentalised or amalgamated with any other site or building.

B.5 That __________; and that, save for any mortgage disclosed in PART A of this document and any matter disclosed in this affidavit, the said property is free from every encumbrance, including any dispute, litigation, attachment, lien or charge.

B.6 That __________.

B.7 That __________.

B.8 That the said property was allotted or auctioned on __________, and I am aware that Rule 1(ii) of the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007 applies those Rules only to allotments and auctions made after 7 November 2007, so that where the said property was allotted before that date it is governed by the rules under which it was allotted.

B.9 That I am aware that misuse of a site or building attracts misuse charges under the rules applicable to the allotment of the said property, that where the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007 apply Rule 10 of those Rules levies the charge at Rs 500 per square foot of the area under misuse per month or part of a month, payable jointly and severally by the transferee and the occupier, that charges so imposed are payable within fifteen days of the order and carry interest at 1.5% per month upon delay, and that a removal notice gives not less than fifteen days and requires the misuse to be removed within two months. I accept liability for the misuse charges lawfully leviable in respect of any misuse of the said property, at the rate applicable to it.

B.10 That I am aware that a building upon an allotted or auctioned site is to be completed within three years of the delivery of possession under Rule 8 of the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007, that extension is available for five further years upon penalties of 10%, 15%, 20%, 25% and 30% of the total consideration money for the first to the fifth year respectively, and that no further extension is possible, whereupon the Estate Officer may proceed under Section 8-A of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952.

B.11 That I undertake to remove any unauthorised construction found upon the said property, or to have it compounded where it is compoundable, and to discontinue any misuse found upon it, within such period as the Estate Officer directs; and I accept that the permission for conversion may be withdrawn if I fail to do so.

B.12 That I undertake to inform the Estate Officer in writing at once if, at any time before the deed of conveyance is executed, any of the statements in this affidavit ceases to be true, or any notice, order, attachment, injunction or proceeding affecting the said property comes to my knowledge.

B.13 That I make this affidavit knowing that the Estate Officer will act upon it, will assess and receive conversion charges upon the faith of it, and will execute a deed of conveyance upon the faith of it; and that I shall indemnify and keep indemnified the Estate Officer and the Chandigarh Administration against every loss, claim, demand, cost and expense arising from any statement in it being untrue.

B.14 That I am aware that swearing a false affidavit is an offence, that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 punishes the giving of false evidence and the making of a false statement in a declaration receivable as evidence, and that the title which may pass upon conversion is liable to be cancelled at any stage if any statement in this affidavit or in the application at PART A is found to be false or if any material fact has been concealed.

#### SCHEDULE TO THIS AFFIDAVIT — THE SAID PROPERTY

#### VERIFICATION

I, the deponent above named, do hereby solemnly affirm and declare that the contents of this affidavit, including its Schedule, are true to the best of my knowledge and belief, that no part of it is false and that nothing material has been concealed from it.

Verified at Chandigarh on __________.

______________________________
__________, DEPONENT

Witnesses to the deponent's signature

Witness 1 — Signature: ______________________________

Name: ______________________________ Son / daughter / wife of: ______________________________

Address: ______________________________ Mobile: ______________________________

Witness 2 — Signature: ______________________________

Name: ______________________________ Son / daughter / wife of: ______________________________

Address: ______________________________ Mobile: ______________________________

To be completed by the attesting officer

Solemnly affirmed and signed before me at Chandigarh on __________ by the deponent named above, who appeared before me in person, was identified to my satisfaction, and signed this affidavit in my presence.

Register / Serial No.: ______________________________ Fee or stamp: ______________________________

Signature and seal: ______________________________

Name: ______________________________ Designation or Notary Registration No.: ______________________________

Date: ______________________________

PART C — WHAT MUST TRAVEL WITH THIS APPLICATION

1. This application (PART A), signed by every recorded lessee, on plain paper, with its Schedule.
2. The affidavit (PART B-1) regarding building violation and misuse, on Rs 100 non-judicial stamp paper, attested as the Estate Office requires — and a SEPARATE affidavit on separate stamp paper from every other recorded lessee.
3. Self-attested photo identity proof — Aadhaar, passport, voter identity card or PAN — of every lessee, attorney holder or applicant.
4. A self-attested copy of the Occupation Certificate issued by the competent authority.
5. Where conversion is applied for through a power of attorney: a certified copy of the General, Special or Sub-General Power of Attorney, and the separate affidavit in the form of Annexure-11 — on Rs 15 stamp paper attested by a notary — swearing that the executant is alive, that the power has not been revoked or cancelled and remains valid and operative, and that there is no underhand sale between the executant and the holder and that the power was not executed to circumvent the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
6. Where the lessee is a partnership firm: attested copies of the partnership deeds with the chain of partners, the letter of authority in the form of Annexure-12 on the firm's letterhead, and the firm's PAN.
7. Where the lessee is a company: the memorandum and articles of association, the board resolution in the form of Annexure-13 authorising the signatory, an affidavit that the property will be used for the purpose for which it was allotted, the certificate of incorporation and Form No. 32, and PAN and TAN attested by a notary.
8. The No Objection Certificate of the mortgagee, where the plot stands mortgaged to a bank, corporation, department or financial institution.
9. The No Dues Certificate from the Estate Office in respect of the said property, or proof that it has been applied for.
10. Payment of the conversion fee by online payment or demand draft, as the Estate Office intimates. The office assesses first; do not pay before the demand unless the counter tells you to.
11. The allotment letter and the lease deed, and the sanctioned building plan.
12. Where any document was prepared or executed outside India: proof that it has been embossed by the Office of the Finance Department, Chandigarh Administration.

Before you file

1. Get the Occupation Certificate first. It is item 4 of the checklist and the file will not move without it. It is itself a Right to Service item at 45 days up to 2 kanal and 60 days above.
2. Walk the building against the sanctioned plan, with the plan in your hand. PART B is sworn, and the office inspects. A car porch, an enclosed balcony, a terrace room or a basement extension that is not on the plan has to be compounded or removed before this application is worth filing.
3. Print the User Account Statement from estateoffice.chd.gov.in and run Know Your Dues before you answer A.11. Ordinary arrears of ground rent do not stop a conversion — they are reconciled and added to the demand, and a denial that turns out to be wrong is what stops it. But if the ORIGINAL PREMIUM itself is unpaid, Section 3(3) of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 keeps the site with the Central Government until the whole of the consideration money with interest and every other amount due is paid, so conversion may not be available at all until the account is cleared. Settle that at the counter before you spend anything on stamp paper.
4. If the recorded lessees are not all of one family, ask before you file. Following the Supreme Court's judgment of 10 January 2023, the Public Notice effective 10 February 2023 stopped transfers and mutations of Chandigarh residential units outside four permitted categories pending the decision of the Chandigarh Heritage Conservation Committee, and whether that decision has since been taken could not be established. Conversion ends in a registered deed of conveyance and an auto-mutation, which is the machinery that notice suspended. Ask the Estate Office, Town Hall Building, Sector 17-C whether it converts for co-owners who are not one family before you pay anything.
5. Ask the bank for its No Objection Certificate early if the property is mortgaged. It is usually the slowest paper in the set.
6. Every recorded lessee signs PART A and swears an affidavit of their own, on their own stamp paper and before the attesting officer in person. An application by one of two lessees is an incomplete application, and the 35-day clock runs only from a complete one.
7. Ask the counter whether the affidavits need an Executive Magistrate or a notary, and record the answer in the form. The checklist says Executive Magistrate; the office's standing note accepts notarisation except where policy requires otherwise.
8. Do not sign at home. Each deponent appears before the attesting officer with the original of the identification named at the head of their own affidavit.
9. Take the dated receipt or the online acknowledgement number. Without proof of the date of a complete application there is nothing to appeal on if the 35 days pass.
10. Budget for the second bill. After the conversion letter comes the deed of conveyance, on which stamp duty and registration fee are payable, and the conveyance is presented at 30 Bays Building, Sector 17, between 12.00 noon and 1.00 pm only.
11. Initial every page, every Schedule and every affidavit included, and keep a complete signed set for yourself.