Application for Mutation of Inheritance (Virasat / Fauti Intkal)

Stamp duty

No stamp duty on the application — a s.34(1) report of an acquisition, not an instrument, so Schedule I-A doesn't bite. Any court-fee stamp is small/fixed (no line in the fee table — ask the counter). Punjab charges a Rs 600 mutation fee + Rs 200 pasting fee (Punjab Revenue Dept table, retrieved 6 Sep 2026 — undated, confirm at counter), levied under s.38 and recovered at attestation ONLY from the person favoured (Manual para 7.33 + s.38(2)); shamilat shares and each partition holding draw separate fees. Late reporting (past 3 months) risks a discretionary s.39 fine up to 5x the fee — Rs 3,000 ceiling, imposed by the Collector (the DC, not the CRO) — use the delay paragraph to ask for leniency. Annexure A's affidavit IS chargeable — Article 4, Schedule I-A (Punjab), a small fixed duty; e-stamp it in the deponent's own name (no affidavit line in the fee table — ask the counter). Real duty is on deeds executed ALONGSIDE this: a relinquishment, partition deed, or a family settlement that itself transfers rights (a bare memorandum of an already-completed arrangement usually isn't chargeable). The table prices a gift like a sale — 5% + 1% cess + 1% registration (capped Rs 2,00,000) + 1% PIDB + Rs 1,000-5,000 facilitation + Rs 200 pasting, on the higher of consideration or Collector rate — but has no line for relinquishment/partition, so get the article and amount from the Sub-Registrar first. A will is nil duty (Rs 4,000 registration, Rs 500 facilitation) — registration optional. Chandigarh has its own record and fees (revenue.chd.gov.in) — ask there, not here.

Registration

Not registrable, nothing to register — s.17 needs an instrument; inheritance devolves by law, so the officer works from the death certificate, shajra nasab, heirship evidence and enquiry instead. Registration and mutation ARE wired together: a registered deed triggers a Parcha Yadasht from Sub-Registrar to Tehsildar, then Kanungo to Patwari, and the intkal starts itself — inheritance produces no deed, so nothing triggers, hence the s.34(1) report is on you. THREE virasat-file documents DO need registration: a relinquishment/release deed (s.17(1)(b) — unreleased without it, and a plain consent letter releases nothing either); a partition deed if dividing rather than holding shares jointly (ss.111-126, before an Assistant Collector 1st grade+ — s.126 bars your 2nd-grade Tehsildar/Naib Tehsildar; a consensual private partition is a 30-day notified service); and a family settlement that itself effects the transfer (a memorandum merely recording one already acted on isn't — Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation, (1976) 3 SCC 119). An attorney filing for heirs needs a REGISTERED power of attorney (para 1.2) — a general one conveys no title (Suraj Lamp v. State of Haryana, (2012) 1 SCC 656). A will needn't be registered (s.18, optional) and is valid unregistered if proved, though a registered one is easier to prove. Deed registration: 1-day notified service; certified copy: 7 days; non-encumbrance certificate: 3 days (NECIS, rcms.punjab.gov.in). Not title either: s.44 presumes only until disproved; s.45 sends real disputes to a declaratory suit.

Notarisation

The affidavit must be SWORN in person before a Notary (Notaries Act, 1952) or Oath Commissioner (District Judge/High Court appointed) — oath, signature, attestation, all in ten minutes; signed-at-home-stamped-at-shop doesn't count. Two traps: e-stamp in the DEPONENT'S own name, and carry original ID and enclosures separately (self-attested copies suffice for the file, originals for verification). The application itself needs no notarisation. An absent heir's consent letter is worth notarising (or attesting at the Indian Mission abroad) — it still doesn't release a share. The portal's OTP isn't an oath. A will's notarisation proves nothing about the will — that still needs an attesting witness under s.63, Indian Succession Act, 1925.

Witnesses

No attesting witnesses on the application; the affidavit is deposed, not witnessed. What matters instead is identification in open assembly: the Patwari enters, the Field Kanungo validates, and the Circle Revenue Officer attests with the Lambardar present and two respectable villagers who knew the deceased confirming the heirs — bring them, with ID. Heirs are checked against the shajra nasab (Manual para 7.41(1)); if it's stale, get a kursi nama attested by the Sarpanch or Patwari (s.35 obliges information; s.36 lets the officer decide and put a party in possession summarily). A WILL needs two attesting witnesses who saw the testator sign (s.63, Indian Succession Act, 1925), and proving it needs one surviving witness produced (s.67, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023) — find them before filing. Consent signatures aren't witness signatures.