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Analysing the Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Act, 2016, it is argued that even as technological intervention in land record keeping is necessary, coordination between various levels of land record databases needs to be ensured for clarity between spatial and textual records. Further, it appears the new law once again needs courts to arbitrate land title disputes, which has been the case so far.

The Rajasthan Urban Land (Certification of Titles) Act, 2016 was in the news for being the first state titling legislation on urban land records. In India, where land records are presumptive (that is, correct only until proved otherwise), deed-based (dependant on lawyer’s title searches), and based on forbidding “caveat emptor” (or “let the buyer beware”) principles, this act ostensibly makes the state guarantee land titles.

It is assumed that such a measure would reduce litigation, improve ease of doing business and smoothen the process of land acquisition in urban areas (Ramanathan 2016; Khanna 2016; PTI 2016). This is being advocated as a benchmark for other states to follow, since land records fall under the state list of the Constitution. News reports claim that Maharashtra might follow suit with its own titling law (Jog 2016). Other states could well look at these as models or best practices to emulate. This makes the task of analysing the Rajasthan act pertinent and necessary.