Two khataunis can look almost identical and still describe very different land. The difference is the category (श्रेणी) the holding is recorded in. Category 1-क is ordinary, sellable bhumidhari land. Other categories record restricted holdings, leases, or land that belongs to the Gaon Sabha or the public and can never be sold. Checking the category is one of the quickest ways to rule out a bad purchase.
भूमि की श्रेणी क्यों ज़रूरी है
खतौनी में हर खाता एक श्रेणी में दर्ज होता है। श्रेणी 1-क की भूमि संक्रमणीय भूमिधरों की होती है और सामान्य रूप से बेची जा सकती है। श्रेणी 2 असंक्रमणीय भूमिधरों की होती है, और श्रेणी 5 व 6 में ग्राम सभा या सार्वजनिक उपयोग की भूमि आती है, जिसे खरीदा नहीं जा सकता। ज़मीन खरीदने से पहले श्रेणी ज़रूर देखें।
Key facts at a glance
- Category 1-क: land held by bhumidhars with transferable rights; the normal category for a purchase
- Category 2: bhumidhars with non-transferable rights; their interest cannot be sold until it converts
- Categories 5 and 6: fallow, barren, pasture, water, roads, cremation grounds and other Gaon Sabha or public land
- Public-utility land such as ponds, pasture and cremation grounds can never become private land (Section 77)
- A transfer that breaks the Code is void, and the land vests in the State (Sections 104 and 105)
The categories, as UP Bhulekh lists them
UP Bhulekh publishes the official list under “भूमि प्रकार की सूची”. Each category also has a two-digit number that appears as the 15th and 16th digits of a plot’s गाटा यूनिक कोड, so you can read the category from the code itself.
| Code (digits) | What it records | Can it be bought? |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (11) | Land cultivated by the Government, Gaon Sabha or another local authority | No |
| 1-क (12) | Land held by bhumidhars with transferable rights (संक्रमणीय भूमिधर) | Yes, subject to the usual checks |
| 1-ख (14) | Land held under the Government Grants Act | Take advice |
| 2 (21) | Land held by bhumidhars with non-transferable rights (असंक्रमणीय भूमिधर) | Not until the rights become transferable |
| 3 (31) | Land held by asamis | No |
| 4, 4-क, 9 | Occupants without title, interim lessees of ceiling-surplus land, unauthorised occupants | No |
| 5-1, 5-2 | Cultivable fallow land: new fallow (नई परती) and old fallow (पुरानी परती) | No |
| 5-3 (क to ङ) | Cultivable barren land: timber forest, other forest and bush, pasture and grazing land, thatch grass and bamboo, other barren land | No |
| 5-क | Forest land with rights recognised under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 | No |
| 6-1 to 6-4 | Non-agricultural land: land under water, sites, roads, railways and buildings, cremation and burial grounds, and land uncultivable for other reasons | No |
The “can it be bought?” column is a practical summary of the rules below, not a substitute for advice on a specific khata.
What the Revenue Code says
- Four tenure classes (Section 74): bhumidhar with transferable rights, bhumidhar with non-transferable rights, asami, and government lessee.
- Only transferable rights can be sold (Section 88). A non-transferable bhumidhar’s or asami’s interest cannot be transferred unless the law expressly allows it. A non-transferable bhumidhar can mortgage the land only to a government body, bank or co-operative for a loan (Section 92).
- Who holds non-transferable rights (Section 76): people admitted by the Bhumi Prabandhak Samiti, Bhoodan allottees, ceiling-surplus allottees, and certain recorded asamis.
- Conversion after five years. A non-transferable bhumidhar becomes a transferable one five years after acquiring the rights (Section 76(3)). Someone who sells after converting cannot later get a lease of Gaon Sabha, State or ceiling-surplus land.
- Land that can never become private (Section 77): threshing floors, manure pits, pasture, burial and cremation grounds, river beds, ponds, tanks, lakes and embankments, groves entrusted to the Gram Panchayat, and land held for a public purpose or public utility. Only the State Government can change the class of such land, in exceptional cases and with equivalent land reserved for the same purpose.
- Void transfers (Sections 104 and 105). A transfer that breaks the Code is void, and the land vests in the State free of encumbrances.
कौन सी भूमि नहीं खरीदी जा सकती
राजस्व संहिता की धारा 77 के अनुसार खलिहान, खाद के गड्ढे, चारागाह, कब्रिस्तान और श्मशान, नदी तल, तालाब, पोखर, झील और बंधे, और सार्वजनिक उपयोग के लिए रखी गई भूमि पर कभी भूमिधरी अधिकार नहीं बनते। ऐसी भूमि की श्रेणी केवल राज्य सरकार बदल सकती है। असंक्रमणीय भूमिधर (श्रेणी 2) अपनी भूमि नहीं बेच सकता, जब तक पाँच वर्ष बाद उसके अधिकार संक्रमणीय न हो जाएँ।
How to check the category on UP Bhulekh
- On upbhulekh.gov.in, open “खतौनी (अधिकार अभिलेख) की नक़ल देखें” and select the district, tehsil and village.
- Search by khasra/gata number, khata number or owner’s name, and open the extract. The category is shown with the khata.
- You can also search a whole village by category using “भूमि श्रेंणी द्वारा खोजें”, for example to see which plots are recorded as category 5 or 6.
- Read the 15th and 16th digits of the plot’s unique code: “12” means category 1-क.
Some villages show a notice that the village is under survey (“यह गाँव सर्वेक्षण में है।”), in which case the online record may not be current; check with the tehsil. For the full walkthrough, see our guide to checking khatauni on UP Bhulekh.
What the Supreme Court has said
- Jagpal Singh v. State of Punjab (2011). People who filled in a village pond and built on it were held to be trespassers who had to remove the buildings. Regularising such encroachments was held illegal, and states were directed to evict encroachers from Gaon Sabha land.
- Babu Singh v. Consolidation Officer (2026). Land recorded as threshing floor and pasture in Uttar Pradesh had been moved to another category by a sub-divisional officer and given out on pattas. The Court held the officer had no power to change the category, which only the State can do, and that the pattas were void from the start.
The lesson for buyers is simple: if a plot is, or was until recently, recorded as pond, pasture, threshing floor or other public land, walk away, whatever the papers now say. See our guide to land fraud around Jewar and the due-diligence checklist.
Common questions
Category 1-क is land held by bhumidhars with transferable rights (संक्रमणीय भूमिधर). It is the normal category for agricultural land that can be bought and sold, subject to the usual title checks.
Not while the rights are non-transferable. Under Section 88 of the UP Revenue Code, a non-transferable bhumidhar’s interest cannot be sold. The rights become transferable five years after they were acquired, after which the record should show the land as transferable.
No. Section 77 says bhumidhari rights can never accrue in ponds, pasture, cremation grounds, threshing floors and other public-utility land, and a transfer that breaks the Code is void. The Supreme Court has also held such allotments and encroachments illegal.
Open the khatauni extract on upbhulekh.gov.in; the category is recorded with the khata. You can also read the 15th and 16th digits of the gata unique code, where 12 means category 1-क, or search a village by category using “भूमि श्रेंणी द्वारा खोजें”.
Category 5 covers cultivable fallow and barren land, including pasture and forest land, and category 6 covers non-agricultural land such as land under water, roads, buildings and cremation grounds. These are generally Gaon Sabha or public land, not private holdings.
Please verify before you commit. Records can be out of date, and categories can be wrongly entered. This is general information, not legal advice; have an advocate check the category history of any plot before you buy.
Want a khatauni checked before you buy? Talk to our team.
Sources
- UP Bhulekh: land category list (भूमि प्रकार सूची), accessed 2 October 2026
- UP Bhulekh: khatauni search
- Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006: updated text (Sections 74, 76, 77, 88, 92, 104, 105)
- Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code Rules, 2016 (Rule 27, R.C. Form-7)
- Jagpal Singh v. State of Punjab, Supreme Court (28 January 2011)
- Babu Singh v. Consolidation Officer, Supreme Court (21 April 2026)