HP High Court Uncovers Major Flaws in Agriculturist Certificate System
The Himachal Pradesh High Court has identified serious deficiencies in the procedure for issuing Himachali agriculturist certificates and has ordered the state government to completely overhaul the system. The court found that the current process makes it remarkably easy to submit false declarations, enabling non-Himachali individuals to illegally purchase agricultural land in the hill state.
Judicial Scrutiny Reveals Systemic Failures
The issue came to light when the court took suo motu cognizance of multiple cases where people from outside Himachal Pradesh, often working in collaboration with revenue officials, managed to obtain agriculturist certificates. These certificates were then used to buy large tracts of land despite legal restrictions that should have prevented such transactions.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj examined the affidavit submitted by the additional chief secretary (revenue) that detailed the existing verification procedures. The court discovered what it described as "apparent lacunae" in the entire system.
Critical Flaws in Verification Process
The court specifically highlighted problems with Form A-I, which requires only a basic declaration that someone is an agriculturist or belongs to an agriculturist family holding agricultural land in a particular area. Crucially, the form fails to ask whether the land is being personally cultivated as defined under sub-section (4) of Section 2 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972.
"Therefore, apparently, it is easy to give a false declaration without coming under the ambit of the provisions," the High Court pointed out in its observation.
The verification process, which is handled by the patwari, only confirms that the person owns and possesses the land and belongs to an agriculturist family. There is no physical verification conducted to determine whether the applicant actually cultivates the land that forms the basis for seeking the certificate.
Email Complaints Confirm Widespread Abuse
The court acknowledged receiving email complaints that provided specific instances of illegal agriculture certificate issuance. These included cases from Palace Colony in Mandi, an area that is no longer officially classified as agricultural land, yet certificates were being issued there.
Emphasizing that the current procedure adopted by revenue authorities is vulnerable to misuse, the division bench stated that the existing system cannot prevent non-agriculturist individuals from exploiting its loopholes.
The court has directed the state government to revamp the instructions dated March 18, 2010 to ensure they properly reflect the true intent and objectives of The Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972. The next hearing in this significant case has been scheduled for February 24, 2026.
