The State Government has taken a revolutionary step to ensure transparency in the land revenue hearing process in the State and speedy disposal of cases. By amending the sections of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966, it has now been made legal to issue notices to parties through electronic mail (E-mail). This proposal, presented by Revenue Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, was approved on Tuesday in a meeting of the State Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A committee was appointed under the chairmanship of the Pune Divisional Commissioner to suggest reforms in various administrative procedures of the Revenue Department. In the report submitted by this committee, it has been recommended that electronic media technology should be used as provided in Section 230 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966.

 

Accordingly, Section 230 (1) of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Act, 1966 will be amended to include Short Message Service (SMS), WhatsApp Messaging Service, Telegram Channel or Electronic Mail for issuing notices. For this, approval was given to present the draft bill to the legislature in the next session with the approval of the Law and Justice Department. What is this new amendment? Till now, according to the prevailing practice of Maharashtra Land Revenue, the hearing notice was sent by hand or by post due to which, the hearing was getting delayed due to technical reasons like non-receipt of notice, missing address or refusal to accept the notice. Now, with the amendment in Section 230, the notice sent to the official email ID will be considered to have been legally served.

 

Revenue hearing will gain speed Around 12,000 cases related to land are pending at the ministry level in the State. Often, months are spent in the process of issuing notice alone. This decision will save time. The time of issuing notice by post or in person will be saved. There will be transparency in the process. Since technical proof of sending the email is available, the excuse of ‘not receiving the notice’ cannot be used. Since the notice reaches on time, the hearing dates will not have to be postponed repeatedly, as a result, the common citizens will get speedy justice.

 

Towards Digital India In the last few years, the Revenue Department has done many successful experiments like digitising 7/12 extracts and making alteration records on-line. Now, by digitising the process of issuing notices, the administration has taken a big step towards ‘paperless’ and ‘cashless’ functioning. “Non-receipt of notices was one of the main reasons why land cases in the Revenue Court remained pending for years. With the legal recognition of the method of issuing notices through e-mail, this loophole will now not be in existence and the judicial process will become more dynamic,” explained Bawankule.