PUNJAB FIRST TO LAUNCH FREE PRE-SCRUTINY REGISTRY SYSTEM; ENDS BRIBES IN PROPERTY DEALS

Punjab leads India with a free, digital Pre-Scrutiny Registry System, ending bribes and empowering citizens with transparency, fairness, and zero-cost property verification.

- TARUNI GANDHI

In a groundbreaking move aimed at dismantling decades-old corruption entrenched in property transactions, Punjab has emerged as the first state in the country to implement a fully digital, free-of-cost Pre-Scrutiny-based Easy Registry System. This reform enables citizens to verify their property documents online before incurring any costs, thereby liberating them from the influence of middlemen, tehsildars, and patwaris, who once monopolized land registration through manipulation and bribery.

At the core of this reform is a revolutionary Pre-Scrutiny Mechanism, which ensures that any sale deed can be evaluated for legal clarity, ownership status, liens, or litigation—all at zero cost to the applicant—no bribes, no under-the-table favors, and most importantly, no unknowns before investing. This initiative, described as a boon and blessing by Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, is being hailed as a historic correction in a system long associated with exploitation.

"The people of Punjab have suffered immensely while buying properties. Even today, I come across real cases where red-tapism exploits naive and helpless citizens. This Easy Registry system is not just a reform—it is a blessing for those who could never fight back," said Cheema.

HISTORY OF SUFFERING

For decades, Punjab's land buyers—particularly farmers, NRIs, women, and the elderly—were trapped in a bureaucratic cycle where every step required unofficial payments. Tehsildars had unchecked power over accepting or rejecting documents. Patwaris often delayed essential paperwork or misrepresented data. Sale deed registration, inheritance entries (intqal), or partition proceedings frequently involved weeks or months of pleading, chasing, and bribing.