The circular (No. Ceiling-2026/Pr.Kr.70/L-7) addresses a long-standing administrative challenge concerning agricultural lands distributed under Sections 27 and 28 of the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961. Such lands are subject to restrictions on transfer, and any transfer without prior permission from the competent authority constitutes a breach of conditions attached to the land allotment.

Until now, there was no clear policy on how to deal with cases where these lands had been transferred multiple times over several decades without obtaining the required approval. Revenue officers across Maharashtra had been facing difficulties in determining whether every past violation should be regularised separately and whether penalties should be recovered for each unauthorised transfer.

The government has now clarified that even if a ceiling land has been transferred multiple times without prior approval, authorities will treat only the most recent unauthorised transfer as the relevant breach for the purpose of regularisation.

This means the current landholder will not be required to pay penalties for every historical unauthorised transfer carried out by previous owners. Instead, only the latest violation will be regularised by recovering the amount prescribed under the amended provisions of the law.

The clarification follows amendments introduced through the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) (Amendment) Act, 2018 and the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) (Amendment) Act, 2023.

The 2018 amendment changed Section 29 of the Act, allowing unauthorised transfers to be regularised upon payment of a prescribed amount instead of automatically resuming the land to the government.

Subsequently, the 2023 amendment revised the amount payable for regularisation. Under the amended law, the landholder is required to pay an amount equivalent to 75% of the market value of the land, as determined under Maharashtra’s Annual Statement of Rates (Ready Reckoner Rates).

The government noted that many of the first unauthorised transfers had taken place nearly 30 to 40 years ago, with subsequent transfers occurring every 15 to 20 years. Recovering penalties for every historical violation from the present owner would be both impractical and unfair, since the current landholder may not have been responsible for earlier breaches.

Recognising this practical difficulty, the Revenue Department has directed all revenue authorities across the state to adopt a uniform approach while processing such cases.

According to the new guidelines, regardless of how many unauthorised transfers have taken place in the past, only the last transfer will be considered for regularisation under the provisions notified on January 19, 2024.

However, the circular also makes it clear that if the present landholder again transfers the land without obtaining the required permission after regularisation, the new violation will have to be regularised separately under the same legal provisions.

The government has also clarified the legal status of the land after the latest unauthorised transfer is regularised.

Once the breach has been regularised, the landholder will become eligible to convert the land from Occupant Class II to Occupant Class I under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Conversion of Occupant Class II to Occupant Class I) Rules, 2026. Alternatively, the owner may transfer the land legally in the future after obtaining prior permission from the District Collector, wherever required.

The circular is expected to bring uniformity in decision-making across district revenue offices and reduce prolonged disputes arising from historical transfers of ceiling lands. By limiting the liability of present landholders to only the latest violation, the government aims to make the regularisation process more practical while continuing to enforce statutory safeguards governing ceiling land transactions.

The guidelines have been issued by the Revenue and Forest Department with the approval of the Governor of Maharashtra and are applicable across the state with immediate effect.

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