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RTI application generator for land records and mutation status

An RTI application lets any Indian citizen — including one living abroad — ask a government office for copies of its records and the status of a pending file, and the office generally has to reply within 30 days. Pick the office, tick the ready-made questions (mutation file copies, where your application is stuck and with whom, inspection of the file, registered documents on your khasra), and this tool writes a complete application under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005 that you can copy, print or download.

Free · No sign-up · Runs privately in your browser· Figures checked 24 September 2026

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Who is filing?

Office

Land or property

What do you want to know?

Applicant

Fee and delivery

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To,
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the Tehsildar,
Tehsil [place], District [District], Punjab

Date: [Date]

Subject: Application for information under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005

Sir/Madam,

1. Name of applicant: [Your full name], S/o [Father’s / husband’s name]
2. Address for correspondence (India): [Address in India]
3. Address abroad: [Address abroad]
4. Phone / email: [Phone with country code] / [Email]
5. Land / property concerned: Khasra / killa number [number], Village [Village], District [District], Punjab

6. Information sought:
   1. Regarding my mutation application No. [application no.] dated [date], concerning the land described above, please provide:
   (a) the date on which it was received in your office, and its diary / receipt number;
   (b) the daily progress made on it — each date it was moved, the officer / official it was sent to, and the action taken, with copies of the file notings;
   (c) the names and designations of the officers / officials with whom it has been pending, and for how long with each;
   (d) the time limit prescribed for deciding such an application (under any citizen’s charter, Right to Service law or government instruction), and whether it has been exceeded;
   (e) the date by which it will be decided.

   2. Certified copies of the complete file of Mutation No. [mutation no. / year] relating to the land described above, including the application, the report of the patwari / revenue inspector, notices issued, objections received, statements recorded, order sheets and the final order.

   3. Inspection of the files and records referred to above under Section 2(j) of the Act, on a date and time to be intimated to me, with certified copies of the pages I select during inspection. As I live abroad, the inspection may be carried out by my authorised representative.

7. Fee: The application fee of ₹10 (or the amount prescribed under the Punjab RTI rules) is paid by Indian Postal Order. I will pay any additional fee for copies on being informed.

8. Please supply the information by registered / speed post to the address in India given below. If any part of this application relates to another public authority, please transfer that part under Section 6(3) of the Act and inform me.

9. Declaration: I am a citizen of India, presently residing abroad (copy of Indian passport enclosed). The information sought does not fall within the exemptions in Sections 8 and 9 of the Act, to the best of my knowledge.

Yours faithfully,

[Your full name]
Signature: ____________________

Enclosures:
1. Indian Postal Order for the application fee
2. Copy of Indian passport (proof of citizenship)
3. Copy of the receipt of my application

If there’s no reply in 30 days

File a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority — usually the PIO’s senior officer in the same office — within 30 days of the deadline or the reply (Section 19(1)). A second appeal to the State Information Commission lies within 90 days after that.

A template to help you get started — not legal advice. Fees, payment modes and forms are set by each state’s RTI rules, so check them before posting. Send it by registered or speed post (or file online where your state allows) and keep the proof of delivery — the 30-day clock runs from the day the PIO receives it.

How to use it

  1. Choose the office — tehsil, sub-registrar, land records, municipal body or another — and enter its district and state.
  2. Tick the questions you need and fill the small details each one asks for, such as your application number or khasra number.
  3. Add your details and how you will pay the ₹10 fee (or attach a BPL certificate), and choose to receive copies by post or email.
  4. Copy, print or download, sign it, and send it to the Public Information Officer. Note the date — the 30-day clock starts when they receive it.

Can an NRI file an RTI application? What about OCI cardholders?

The RTI Act, 2005 gives the right to information to citizens of India, and an NRI with an Indian passport is still a citizen — so the Act’s text covers you. In 2018 the Centre told Parliament that NRIs were not eligible to file online, so in practice many NRIs sign the application with a copy of their Indian passport and have a relative post it, or have that relative file in their own name.

An Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder is a foreign citizen. The rights of OCI cardholders under Section 7B of the Citizenship Act do not include the right to information, so an OCI cardholder should ask an Indian-citizen relative or lawyer to file the application in their own name.

What should you ask in an RTI for land records?

Ask for documents and facts that already exist, not opinions or reasons. Good examples: certified copies of your mutation file, including order sheets and the patwari’s report; the date your application was received, each date it moved, and the name and designation of each officer who has held it; and certified copies of the record of rights or mutation register entries for your khasra.

You can also ask to inspect the file under Section 2(j) of the Act and pick the pages you want copied — useful when you don’t know exactly what the file contains. You don’t have to give any reason for asking (Section 6(2)).

How much is the RTI fee, and how do you pay it?

For central government offices the application fee is ₹10 under the RTI Rules, 2012, with ₹2 per A4 page for copies and the first hour of inspection free. Tehsils, sub-registrars and municipal bodies are state public authorities, so their fee and payment modes are set by the state’s own RTI rules — often ₹10 as well, paid by Indian Postal Order, demand draft, court fee stamp, cash or online.

Applicants below the poverty line pay no fee if they attach a copy of their BPL certificate (Section 7(5)). If the office misses the 30-day deadline, the information has to be supplied free of charge (Section 7(6)).

What if the PIO doesn’t reply or refuses?

The Public Information Officer must reply within 30 days of receiving the application (Section 7(1)); if it was sent to the wrong office, it should be transferred within five days (Section 6(3)). No reply by the deadline counts as a refusal.

You can then file a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority — usually the PIO’s senior officer — within 30 days (Section 19(1)). If that fails, a second appeal lies to the State Information Commission within 90 days (Section 19(3)). An appeal is usually a one-page letter attaching the application and any reply.

Does an RTI actually move a stuck mutation or demarcation?

Often, yes. A question that asks for the daily progress of your file and the names of the officers it has been pending with puts a written spotlight on the delay, and many stuck files move soon after one arrives. It is not a complaint and does not decide your case, but it gives you a paper trail.

Use the copies you get to check what the office has actually recorded — objections, reports, notices — and share them with your lawyer. Then keep watching both the record and the land itself.

Questions people ask

It is addressed to the Public Information Officer of the office holding the records, states that it is under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, gives the land details, lists the numbered questions, mentions the fee paid, confirms you are an Indian citizen, and ends with your name, address, signature and date.

Give your mutation application number and date, then ask for the date it was received, every date it moved and the action taken, the names and designations of the officers it has been pending with, the time limit for deciding it, and certified copies of the file notings and order sheets.

No. The RTI Act gives the right to citizens, and OCI cardholders are foreign citizens whose listed rights do not include it. Ask an Indian-citizen relative, friend or lawyer to file the application in their own name.

Thirty days from receiving the application, or 48 hours where it concerns someone’s life or liberty. If the application was transferred from another office, add five days. If the PIO misses the deadline, the information must be given free of charge.

Sub-registrar offices already give certified copies of registered documents and extracts of their indexes on request under the Registration Act, for a fee. RTI is useful when that route stalls, or to ask what documents have been registered on your khasra over a period.

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