READING YOUR 7/12: THE ONE COLUMN THAT GIVES THE CLAIM ITS POWER

Every affected society's position can be read off one document — the 7/12 extract. This part explains what to look for on it, and why one column matters more than everything else printed there. The 7/12 extract, named after Sections 7 and 12 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, is the foundational record of who owns and occupies a parcel, its use, and the rights and encumbrances over it. It is maintained by the village talathi, updated on transactions and orders, and available on the State's Bhulekh portal. Lenders, courts and sub-registrars all rely on it — which is why an entry on it carries such practical weight. The extract has an 'occupant' column and an 'other rights' column, and the difference between them is the whole story. The occupant column records the primary land-rights holder — a powerful position. The 'other rights' column is where subordinate interests are noted: encumbrances, mortgages, leases and superior-holder claims. A name in 'other rights' is a claim against the land; a name in 'occupant' is treated as the land-rights holder itself. Across the three revenue villages — Bhayandar, Mire and Ghodbunder — the name in the occupant column is the Estate Investment Company. Congress leader Nana Patole, citing official records in the December 2023 session, put the figure at 8,995 acres. That placement, in occupant rather than 'other rights', is what triggers the NOC demand on every transaction in the belt. Move the same name to 'other rights' and it becomes a claim to be adjudicated, not a gate to be paid at. The record has moved before. Before 2008, following mutation disputes, the company's name had been shifted from 'occupant' to 'other rights' — a demotion that reduced its practical power. The District Collector's order of 5 September 2008 reversed that, directing the name back into the occupant column. Patole alleged in the legislature that the 2008 order was made unauthorisedly and cut against Section 20 of the Urban Land Ceiling Act, and that a December 2015 action recorded 8,995 acres in the company's name, allegedly including government land. The government has pointed to the company's 2017 court injunction as the obstacle to correcting the entry. As Part 14 set out, ordering deemed conveyance is one thing; changing this record entry is the contested step, held by the 2017 injunction. The column is where the dispute actually lives.

प्रत्येक बाधित सोसायटीची स्थिती एका दस्तएवजातून वाचता येते — १/१२ उतारा. त्यावर काय पाहायचे आणि एक रकाना बाकी सर्वांपेक्षा महत्त्वाचा का, हे हा भाग सांगतो. महाराष्ट्र जमीन महसूल संहितेच्या कलम ७ व १२ वरून नाव मिळालेला १/१२ उतारा — मालकी, भोगवटा, वापर व बोजांची मूलभूत नोंद. तलाठी तो ठेवतो, व्यवहार-आदेशांवर तो अद्ययावत होतो, Bhulekh संकेतस्थळावर उपलब्ध. सावकार, न्यायालये, दुय्यम निबंधक सर्व त्यावर विसंबतात. उतार्यात 'भोगवटादार' रकाना व 'इतर हक्क' रकाना, आणि यांतील फरक हीच खरी गोष्ट. भोगवटादार रकाना मुख्य हक्कधारक दर्शवतो — ताकदीचे स्थान. 'इतर हक्क' रकान्यात बोजा, गहाण, भाडेपट्टा, वरिष्ठ-धारकाचे दावे नोंदतात. 'इतर हक्क'मधील नाव म्हणजे दावा; 'भोगवटादार'मधील नाव म्हणजे हक्कधारकच. भाईंदर, मिरे व घोडबंदर या तीन गावांत भोगवटादार रकान्यातील नाव Estate Investment Company. नाना पटोले यांनी डिसेंबर २०२३ मध्ये अधिकृत नोंदीचा हवाला देत ८,९९५ एकरचा आकडा मांडला. 'इतर हक्क'ऐवजी 'भोगवटादार'मधील हेच स्थान प्रत्येक व्यवहारावर NOC ची मागणी निर्माण करते. २००८ पूर्वी म्युटेशन वादांनंतर हे नाव 'भोगवटादार'वरून 'इतर हक्क'कडे हलवले गेले होते — ताकद कमी करणारी पदावनती. ५ सप्टेंबर २००८ च्या जिल्हाधिकारी आदेशाने ते पुन्हा भोगवटादार रकान्यात नेले. पटोले यांनी हा आदेश अनधिकृत व ULCA कलम २० विरुद्ध असल्याचा आरोप केला; शासनाने कंपनीच्या २०१७ च्या मनाई हुकुमाकडे अडथळा म्हणून बोट दाखवले.