Title search in Hyderabad: document verification against Bhu Bharati, the 22A list and lake records

How we run a Hyderabad file without a Hyderabad office

We have no office in Hyderabad, and if you searched for property document verification lawyers in Hyderabad you should know that from the start. This work is done online: you email scans, we pull the public records, and we discuss the file by video.

If you want to meet, we see clients by appointment at our Vijayawada office (D.No. 61/3, 3-24, Balaji Nagar, 4th Lane, Krishna Lanka, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh) or our head office in Sanpada-Vashi, Navi Mumbai. Call +91 8291849797 or +91 9167710454 or write to info@vivs.in to book.

The people who read your file are Adv. Swanand Pandit (BLS, LL.B, LL.M, PGDBM, JAIIB; Advocate, High Court of Bombay) and Adv. Ashok Ingle (B.A. LL.B). Index books, originals or a site visit may need someone on the ground, and you may have to authorise a person in Hyderabad for those steps.

What property document verification in Hyderabad covers

Any one record may look clean. The search reads them together and states where they disagree.

Why Andhra Pradesh rules do not carry across to Telangana

The two states share old statutes but now run them differently. Telangana uses Bhu Bharati where Andhra Pradesh uses Meebhoomi. The 2023 Andhra amendment allowing sale of assigned land after 20 years is not Telangana law, and each state issued its own 22A orders in 2026. For property across the border, read our Vijayawada title search page.

Has Bhu Bharati replaced Dharani?

Yes. The Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 (Act 1 of 2025) repealed the 2020 Dharani law. It came into force on 14 April 2025 with rules under G.O.Ms. No. 39. Older papers will mention Dharani, and its entries carried over, errors included.

Four provisions shape a search:

• Section 11 presumes a Record of Rights entry to be correct until the contrary is proved, but Section 18 still allows a suit declaring title, and the entry then follows the decree
• Section 5 sends agricultural transfers through the portal, while non-agricultural and abadi transfers go to the sub-registrar, with mutation under municipal or panchayat law
• Section 3(7) lets the state exclude notified urban non-agricultural land from the Act
• Sections 5, 7 and 8 bring in a survey or sub-division map from a date the state prescribes

We could not confirm how far the map rule had rolled out by November 2026, so we check it for each file. The portal lists prohibited land details, encumbrance details, an EC search for the years before Dharani, and flows for power of attorney documents and NRI applications.

Section 22A in Telangana: a list that moved in 2026

Section 22A of the Registration Act has five clauses: (a) property whose transfer a statute bars, such as assigned land and Kharij Khata land; (b) government land transferred without authority; (c) endowment or wakf property transferred without authority; (d) land declared surplus under land reform or urban ceiling laws; and (e) other property where notified interests are affected. A Full Bench in Vinjamuri Rajagopala Chary (2016) held that clauses (a) to (d) need no separate notification, while clause (e) needs a Gazette notification. Under that ruling, the registration department cannot decide disputed title.

The recent timeline:

• August 2025: G.O.Ms. No. 98 set up a committee to confirm, delete or modify entries.
• August 2026: buyers began getting rejections at sub-registrar offices. ThePrint reported about 90 lakh private properties on the list, with over half of listings in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Sangareddy. The Revenue Minister admitted that old, unfiltered lists had been sent out.
• 25 August 2026: the list reappeared on the department's site, with its Wakf and Endowments categories marked as under review.
• 18 September 2026: the Minister announced a three-member committee in the Assembly.
• 24 September 2026: reports said open plots, houses and flats on the list with valid approvals could be registered on a document linking back to the original permission.

We check the list again close to registration, since it may change between your token and your sale deed. As an October 2026 Lakshmikumaran and Sridharan note puts it, "Section 22-A does not determine property ownership."

Assigned, Inam, Wakf and Bhoodan land around Hyderabad

Assigned land

The Telangana Assigned Lands (Prohibition of Transfers) Act, 1977 protects land granted to landless families. In February 2025, the High Court was reported ordering an inquiry into a registration where assigned land had been reclassified as non-agricultural, so a later change of classification needs explaining. Section 6(3) of the Bhu Bharati Act also refuses to validate unregistered sales that breach the assigned land law.

Inam land

Section 3(4) of the Bhu Bharati Act records Inam land as government land, and Section 3(6) lifts this where an occupancy rights certificate (ORC) has been granted under the Telangana Abolition of Inams Act, 1955. So we look for the ORC first. It does not end the enquiry: in December 2025 the High Court was reported saying that ORC proceedings dealt only with occupancy, not title.

Wakf land

Under the 2007 circular, a clause (c) list is signed by the Commissioner of Endowments or the Secretary of the Waqf Board. A state order reported in September 2020 barred registration of waqf properties. Nationally, the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 is under challenge in the Supreme Court, which stayed parts of it on 15 September 2025. If an older deed refers to a waqf grant, we ask the Board in writing.

Bhoodan land

Officials said in August 2026 that Bhoodan, Wakf and Endowment cases could take longer because many are in court. Section 16 of the Bhu Bharati Act also lets the Commissioner revise orders on such land, so an old mutation may not be final.

Lakes, FTL and buffer zones after HYDRAA

HYDRAA (Hyderabad Disaster Response and Asset Protection Agency) was formed under G.O.Ms. No. 99 of 19 July 2024. Its website describes jurisdiction over the Core Urban Region inside the Outer Ring Road. It protects lakes, parks and government land, and an ordinance amending the GHMC Act gave it legal backing.

A law firm note in LiveLaw summarises the building rules under G.O.Ms. No. 168 of 2012, as amended:

• No building within 30 metres of the FTL for lakes of 10 hectares or more
• No building within 9 metres of the FTL for smaller lakes and shikam land
• Widths of 9 metres or 2 metres for canals, vagus and nalas, depending on their size

A sanction alone does not close this question. In August 2024, the High Court told the agency to consider prima facie title and existing permissions before acting, which is a safeguard of process only. Boundaries are also disputed, and the court has stayed some demarcation work.

So we compare the survey number with HMDA's lake records and the irrigation department's FTL papers, and we put any doubtful boundary to those offices in writing.

GHMC, HMDA, LRS and building approvals

Three corporations now

G.O.Ms. No. 55 of 11 February 2026 split the old GHMC into GHMC, Cyberabad and Malkajgiri corporations. The change has been challenged in the High Court. Older tax receipts and plans say GHMC even where the property now falls elsewhere, so we identify the present corporation first.

Layout plots and LRS

The Land Regularisation Scheme brings unapproved layouts into the planning system. A 25 per cent rebate for 2020 applicants with unpaid dues was reported on 1 August 2026 as extended to 30 November 2026, so check whether it still runs. Regularisation deals with planning only. It does not repair a broken chain of title, and an application is not an approval.

Building permissions

TG-bPASS closed on 15 December 2025, with approvals under GHMC, HMDA and DTCP now handled on BuildNow.

New flats under Telangana RERA

Section 3 of the RERA Act generally requires a project on more than 500 square metres, or with more than eight apartments, to be registered before it is marketed. We read the promoter's title papers on the Telangana RERA portal against the land records. For delays, see RERA complaints and builder disputes.

Our search, from scans to written opinion

1. Send the scans. Deeds, EC, pass book, tax receipts, approvals and any order the seller relies on.
2. Identify the land. We settle the survey number, plot and door number, extent, district and present corporation, old and new.
3. Screen for bars. The 22A list, assigned, Inam, Wakf and Bhoodan status, and any water body nearby.
4. Build the chain. ECs for the full period, with certified copies of key deeds where needed, and queries to the seller.
5. Cross-check. Bhu Bharati or municipal records, approvals, Telangana RERA, CERSAI and the civil courts in Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medchal-Malkajgiri, plus the Telangana High Court.
6. Consider a public notice. An English and a Telugu newspaper notice can bring out claims that no record shows.
7. Get the written opinion. It lists what is clear, what is not, and what to fix before you pay.

Documents a Hyderabad seller should provide

• The registered deeds in the chain, with link documents for a flat from the developer upward
• Pass book and Record of Rights extract for land, plus any survey map
• The ORC, assignment order or ceiling clearance, if the history includes one
• Any order removing the land from the 22A list, or the document linking it to the original permission
• Building permission, occupancy certificate and layout or LRS proceedings
• Property tax receipts, the mutation order and the lender's closure letter for any past loan
• Succession papers where an owner has died

Timing and cost of a Hyderabad title report

Timing depends on the chain, the age of the records and how quickly offices reply. We give you a date after reading the papers.

The agreement to sale with title search report starts from Rs 18,000, as does the sale deed with title search report. A tenant taking a shop or office can use the commercial lease agreement with title search, also from Rs 18,000. For land or a whole building, we quote after reading the papers.

Red flags in a Hyderabad property file

• A Dharani entry offered as proof of title. Ask for the deeds behind it and the present Bhu Bharati entry.
• A seller who says 22A is only a technical problem. Ask which clause, which order and which list date.
• An ORC described as ownership. Read what it actually decided.
• A survey number next to a kunta or nala. Get the FTL position in writing before paying.

More help on title and property

See the main property title search page and our title search guide. For a dispute in the city, read our page on property lawyers for Hyderabad matters. If a seller acts through an agent, see power of attorney for NRI property; if the chain runs through a death, see inheritance without a will.

This page is general information, not legal advice on a particular matter.