Div Commissioners & Collectors Can Clear Land Violation Cases

Nagpur: As a part of a major administrative reform aimed at reducing delays and easing public access to govt services, the Maharashtra govt on Saturday transferred powers to regularise land condition violations, commonly known as ‘shartbhang' cases, from the revenue minister to district collectors and divisional commissioners.The decision, announced through a govt gazette notification, is expected to bring relief to thousands of farmers and property holders whose land and housing transactions remained stalled due to procedural delays and the need for approvals at the Mantralaya level in Mumbai.Under the revised framework, district collectors will now be authorised to dispose of cases involving penalties of up to ₹10 lakh, while divisional commissioners can decide matters involving penalties up to ₹20 lakh. Cases exceeding those limits will continue to be handled at the ministry level.Revenue minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule said the decision was taken following instructions from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to make governance more accessible and reduce hardship for ordinary citizens."People were forced to visit Mantralaya even for minor technical violations, resulting in unnecessary expenditure of time and money. The objective is to ensure that citizens do not have to travel to Mumbai for petty matters," Bawankule said.The state govt also clarified that until now there was no specific legal provision under the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code for regularising violations linked to lands granted on occupancy rights or leasehold basis. Such cases were being processed mainly through govt circulars, often leading to legal disputes and prolonged pendency.To address the issue, amendments were introduced during the last session of the state legislature following recommendations from the law and judiciary department. The latest gazette notification formally operationalises those changes.Officials said the reform is expected to speed up decision-making, reduce litigation, and improve administrative efficiency across districts, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas where land transfer and mutation disputes frequently remain unresolved for years.The move comes at a time when states across India are increasingly focusing on decentralisation of revenue administration and citizen-centric governance reforms to reduce bureaucratic bottlenecks in land management.