7/12 Extract (Satbara Utara): How to Read It, Download It and What It Won't Tell You

A 7/12 extract (satbara utara) is Maharashtra's village-level land record for a survey or gat number: Village Form VII records who holds the land and what rights and charges sit on it, and Village Form XII records cultivation and crops. You can view it free on Mahabhulekh, and a digitally signed copy that banks accept costs Rs 15 on the Digital Satbara portal.

Key takeaways

• The 7/12 covers agricultural and non-city-survey land. Flats and plots inside municipal limits that have been city-surveyed use a property card instead.
• The unsigned Mahabhulekh view is for reference only. The signed copy from digitalsatbara.mahabhumi.gov.in costs Rs 15 per document and carries a QR code and a verification number.
• Since a Revenue Department decision announced on 4 December 2025, a digitally signed 7/12, 8A or ferfar is valid on its own, without a Talathi's stamp.
• Read the occupancy class, the "other rights" column and the encumbrance entries before anything else. Class 2 land cannot be sold without the Collector's permission.
• The 7/12 is a revenue record, not a title document. Pair it with the 8A, every ferfar (mutation) entry and a 30-year title search.

What the 7/12 is, and when you won't find one

The name comes from two registers printed on one page. The upper half is Village Form VII, which records the holder, the area, the occupancy class and any rights or liabilities. The lower half is Village Form XII, which records who cultivates the land and what was grown each season. The village Talathi maintains both under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966.

For a Pune buyer this matters most on the fringe: plotted layouts and farmhouse land around Mulshi, Maval or Purandar trace back to a gat number with a 7/12. For a flat in Kothrud or Mumbai's suburbs, the record you want is the property card from the City Survey Office.

The switch to property cards in merged villages

The state has announced that 7/12 extracts will stop being valid for properties in villages absorbed into municipal limits, with owners moving to property cards. Pune has absorbed fringe villages in more than one expansion, so ask which record is current. Our Pune market study maps those corridors.

Reading the 7/12, field by field

The ankit (numeric) and akshari (text) formats differ slightly, but every 7/12 carries these core fields.

Names that have been struck through are former holders. Each change should trace to a mutation entry number, which leads you to the ferfar that explains it.

Occupancy class 1 versus class 2

Section 29 of the Code sorts holders into occupancy classes, printed as bhogvatadar varg. Class 1 is freely transferable. Class 2 means the holder owns the land in perpetuity but cannot transfer it without prior sanction, typically from the Collector. It is common on land bought by tenants under the Bombay Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act, 1948, and on land granted to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe persons or ex-servicemen. A premium (nazrana) is usually payable, set by Government Resolution at 50% of the unearned income, and 2019 rules let a holder convert to class 1 on payment.

How to get the 7/12 online

1. Go to Mahabhulekh (bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in) and choose the division, then district, taluka and village.
2. Search by survey or gat number, or by the holder's name, and view the extract. This copy is free but carries no legal weight.
3. For a copy you can use with a bank or court, log in to digitalsatbara.mahabhumi.gov.in, load your account with a multiple of Rs 15, and download the signed 7/12. Downloads stay available for about 72 hours after payment.
4. Check the QR code and 16-digit verification number on the portal to confirm the copy has not been altered.
5. Look for the 14-digit ULPIN (Bhu-Aadhaar). It is tied to the parcel's coordinates and stays with the land across owners, but it appears only where the parcel has been geo-tagged, so its absence is not a red flag on its own.

For the same process in other states, from UP's Bhulekh to Karnataka's Bhoomi, see our guide on how to check land records online.

The records that go with it: 8A and ferfar

The 7/12 describes one parcel. The 8A extract turns it around and lists every parcel one holder owns in the village, with the extent and the land revenue due. It costs the same Rs 15 in signed form.

The ferfar, or mutation entry, is the paper trail behind every name on the 7/12. Sections 149 and 150 of the Code require any acquisition of rights (a registered sale, inheritance, partition, mortgage or court order) to be reported and entered in the mutation register. The Talathi opens the entry and publishes a 15-day notice on Aapli Chawadi, the online version of the village notice board, during which co-sharers, heirs or anyone with a claim can object. Only a certified entry changes the 7/12.

Mutation and heirship applications can be filed online through e-Hakk, launched on 24 May 2021. Until your mutation is certified, your name is not on the 7/12, and banks and future buyers will hesitate.

Worked example: checking a "one-acre" plot near Pune

A seller in Maval offers "one acre" at a per-square-foot rate. You download the signed 7/12 and 8A and the four ferfar entries it refers to: six documents at Rs 15 each, so Rs 90 in all.

The 7/12 shows an area of 0 H 40 R with pot kharab of 0 H 02 R.

• Recorded area: 40 ares is 4,000 sq m, or 4,000 × 10.764 = 43,056 sq ft.
• One acre is 40 gunthas × 1,089 sq ft = 43,560 sq ft. The recorded parcel is already 504 sq ft short.
• Pot kharab: 2 ares is 200 sq m, or about 2,153 sq ft.
• Cultivable area: 3,800 sq m, or 40,903 sq ft. That is 2,657 sq ft below the acre you were promised.

At an illustrative Rs 1,000 per sq ft, that gap is 2,657 × 1,000 = Rs 26.57 lakh. An are (about 1,076 sq ft) is slightly smaller than a guntha, which is where the confusion starts. Our page on land measurement units in India has the conversions.

What the 7/12 cannot tell you

• It is not title. Ownership rests on the chain of registered deeds, which is why lawyers typically run a 30-year search. Our title and legal check guide covers what that search should include.
• Mutation lags reality. A recent sale may not show yet, and an uncertified entry can still be challenged.
• Old remarks linger. The 2025 amendment to the fragmentation (tukdebandi) law lets plots of up to one guntha created before 1 January 2025 be regularised free, and the "transaction against the Fragmentation Act" remark removed. If the remark is still there, the fix hasn't happened.
• Land use is a separate question. From an amendment notified on 31 December 2025, and a resolution of 10 February 2026, a separate NA permission and sanad are no longer needed where the use is permitted under the Development or Regional Plan, and a one-time premium replaces the annual NA tax. The plan zoning is now the real test.
• Tenancy claims. A kul (tenant) entry in other rights can give a cultivator a statutory route to ownership. Do not buy around it.

If the layout itself was never approved, read our post on unapproved colony plots first.

Frequently asked questions

Is an online 7/12 legally valid?

Only the digitally signed copy from the Digital Satbara portal is. It costs Rs 15, carries a QR code and verification number, and since the December 2025 Revenue Department decision it does not need a Talathi's stamp or signature. The free Mahabhulekh view is fine for a first look but a bank or court will not accept it.

Does my flat in Pune or Mumbai have a 7/12?

Usually not. Property inside municipal limits that has been through city survey is recorded on a property card issued by the City Survey Office. The 7/12 applies to agricultural and fringe land. In villages recently merged into a corporation, the state is moving owners from 7/12 to property cards, so check which record is current.

What is the difference between the 7/12 and the 8A?

The 7/12 describes one survey or gat number: its holders, area, rights, charges and crops. The 8A lists all the land one holder owns in the village, with the revenue due on each parcel. Buyers need both, because the 8A exposes a seller whose holding does not match what the 7/12 and the agreement claim.

How long does a mutation take after I register the sale?

The Talathi opens the entry and publishes a 15-day notice for objections. If nobody objects, the entry is certified and your name goes on the 7/12. How long that takes varies by taluka. If someone objects, the case moves to the register of disputed cases, which the Code expects to settle within a year where possible.

Can I buy class 2 land?

Only with the Collector's prior permission, and usually after a premium (nazrana) is paid, commonly 50% of the unearned income. Without that sanction the sale can be set aside. The cleaner route is to have the seller convert the land to class 1 under the 2019 rules first, and buy after the 7/12 shows the change.

If you have a 7/12 in hand and aren't sure what one of its entries means, send it to us and we'll go through it with you before you commit money.