Computerisation of land records has made the first stage of property due diligence something you can do from your phone in ten minutes. It has also created a false confidence: a clean online record is a necessary check, not a sufficient one, and the difference has cost people a great deal of money.
Punjab
The Punjab Land Records Authority operates the computerised record for rural and revenue land through its Arazi Record Centres, with an online portal and a network of service centres in every tehsil.
What you can obtain:
- The fard — the record of rights showing the current owner, the share held and the khasra numbers.
- The mutation history, showing how ownership moved.
- Registered deed information through the registration system.
You can search by owner name, CNIC or khasra number. An informal check online is free or nominal; a certified fard for a transaction is issued by the Arazi Record Centre for a fee, and it is the certified copy — not a screenshot — that you rely on when money changes hands.
Sindh
Sindh's Land Administration and Revenue Management Information System provides computerised records through its own portal and service centres, with coverage that varies by district. The equivalent documents are the record of rights and the mutation record maintained by the revenue department.
Coverage outside the main districts is less complete than in Punjab, so verification at the office of the Mukhtiarkar or the relevant revenue official remains necessary more often.
What the online record does not show
This is the part that matters, and it is where confident buyers lose money.
- Urban property in a private scheme or society. A plot in a housing society, a DHA sector, or an apartment is generally not in the revenue record at all. Ownership there is recorded by the society or authority itself, and that is where you verify — not on a revenue portal.
- Pending litigation. A suit for declaration, a partition case, a stay order — none of it appears. Check the court record separately.
- Mortgages and charges, unless formally recorded. An equitable mortgage created by deposit of title deeds may leave no trace.
- Oral agreements and part-payments. A seller who has taken a token from three other buyers still shows as the clean owner.
- Possession. The record says who owns it. It does not say who is living on it, and a property with an occupant is a different purchase from an empty one.
- Inheritance not yet mutated. The record may still show a deceased owner while the real owners are a dozen heirs, every one of whom must join the sale.
A due diligence sequence that actually works
- Obtain a certified fard in the seller's name, dated close to the transaction — not one they hand you from last year.
- Read the mutation chain backwards for several transfers. A gap, a rapid series of transfers, or a mutation attacked in litigation is a warning.
- Match the CNIC on the record to the person in front of you, and verify it. Impersonation of an absent or deceased owner is the classic property fraud, and it is why overseas owners are targeted.
- Visit the property. Confirm the boundaries against the khasra, see who is in possession, and ask the neighbours who owns it. This single step defeats a large share of frauds.
- Search for litigation in the civil courts of the district, and ask the seller directly, in writing, whether any case affects the property.
- For a society or authority plot, verify with the society: current allottee, dues outstanding, and any hold on transfer.
- Obtain no-demand certificates — property tax, utilities, society dues. These follow the land, not the seller.
- Have an advocate examine the chain before you pay. It is the cheapest part of the transaction and the only one that prevents the expensive parts.
Practical points
- Use the official portals and centres only. Agents charging a fee to "get your fard" are selling you something you can obtain yourself for a fraction of it.
- Overseas owners: check your own record annually. Fraudulent mutation of the land of someone who has not visited in years is common, and the earlier it is caught the easier it is to reverse.
- Keep the certified fard with your title documents. If a dispute arises, a dated certified copy from before the transaction is valuable evidence.
This article describes general property verification practice in Pakistan and is not advice on any particular transaction. Coverage and procedure differ between provinces and between revenue land and private schemes. Have the title examined by an advocate before making any payment.