Maharashtra govt empowers district collectors to regularise certain land rule violations

The Maharashtra government has delegated powers related to the regularisation of certain land rule violations involving houses and agricultural plots to district collectors to speed up the decision-making process, an official statement said on Saturday.

"Citizens should not have to visit Mantralaya for minor cases. There was no clear legal provision earlier for regularising breaches related to government-allotted or leased land, and the process was carried out only through government circulars," Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said.

The absence of a legal framework had led to several cases remaining pending or becoming subject to litigation, and the latest decision would address this gap, he said.


As per a gazette notification issued on Friday, district collectors will now dispose of cases attracting penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh, while divisional commissioners will handle cases involving penalties of up to Rs 20 lakh.

Cases beyond the jurisdiction of these officials will continue to be decided at the Mantralaya (state secretariat) level, the statement said, citing the gazette notification. Citizens and farmers often had to travel to Mantralaya even for minor violation-related matters.

According to the statement, the decision was taken on the instructions of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to provide relief to citizens and farmers.

The government said amendments were made to the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code during the last session of the state legislature, following directions from the law and judiciary department, to provide a legal framework for resolving such cases.