Encumbrance Certificate Bihar: Check Loans & Cases on Patna Land (2026)

Loan, case or earlier sale: where to check each

An encumbrance is someone else's right or claim over the land that can survive a sale. For a Patna buyer, four matter most:

How to get an Encumbrance Certificate (e-NEC) online in Bihar

You apply and pay online:

1. Open enibandhan.bihar.gov.in and click "Encumbrance Certificate". It takes you to citizen login, so create an account and log in first.
2. Fill in the application (Form V): your name, the purchaser/claimant's name, the deed number, date and year of registration, the registration office and property details.
3. Pay the fee online.
4. The certificate (Form VI) comes online with a digital signature. For old deeds not yet digitised, the office prepares it by hand and sends it online. An e-NEC counts the same as a paper one.

Tip: the form needs the deed number and year, so get a photocopy of the seller's deed first. Order its Certified Copy too and compare (how to get a kewala copy). Helpdesk: 14544 / 0612-3522300 (as listed on the portal).

Fee: per the latest fee chart (December 2020), the search fee per name is ₹40 for the first year. Each later year costs ₹20. The cap is ₹500 per office per name. The portal shows the actual e-NEC fee when you apply; go by that.

Source: Bihar Registration Rules 2026 and the fee chart (full list at the bottom).

What the certificate shows, and what it misses

The certificate names the property (circle, village/ward, khata, khesra, area). It gives the period for which the office's Index I and Index II were searched. For each transaction found, it lists the document number, date, type of deed (sale, mortgage, gift…), claimant and volume/pages. It then certifies that no other transaction or encumbrance was found. It relies on the description you give: a wrong khesra or village means the wrong land is searched.

How to check if there is a bank loan on the land

• Bihar Bhumi mortgage (bandhak) search: on biharbhumi.bihar.gov.in, the link "बंधक भूमि को देखने की सुविधा" opens "Recording of Encumbrances on Land" (land.bihar.gov.in/Encumbrances). Enter the computerised jamabandi number and click "Search Now"; no login. Finding the number: check jamabandi online. It shows only mortgages entered in this system, so a blank result doesn't prove there is no loan.
• CERSAI (cersai.org.in): per the RBI, banks and financial institutions must file their security interest over property here, including mortgages by deposit of title deeds. The aim is to stop the "fraudulent sale of property without disclosing the security interest". "Public Search" is open to anyone for the fee shown. Asset Based Search needs a survey/municipal, plot or house/flat number (for Bihar land, the khesra and plot number). Debtor Based Search finds the seller by PAN or name; run both.
• The original deed: with a loan against deposited deeds, the original stays with the bank. Ask to see the seller's original and the earlier chain. "Original lost, only a photocopy"? Stop and get the reason in writing. If a loan is running, settle how it is paid off before registry, and get the bank's No Dues letter and the originals back.

How to check if there is a court case on the land

Civil cases are on services.ecourts.gov.in:

1. Open "Case Status" and choose State: Bihar, District: Patna and a Court Complex.
2. Pick the "Party Name" tab and type at least 3 letters. A party can be plaintiff, defendant, appellant or anyone else.
3. The Registration Year is mandatory, so go through several years one by one.
4. Choose "Both" (pending and disposed), enter the captcha and click Go. "View" opens the case history.

Search the seller, the seller's father and, for ancestral land, every co-owner, in each Patna court complex. Older cases aren't always online, so "nothing found" is not proof.

Revenue cases (CO, DCLR, ADM, DM or Commissioner) are on Bihar Bhumi's "ऑनलाइन राजस्व न्यायालय" (RCMS). Its Case Status needs the court, Act, case type, year and case number. So it checks a known case, not a name. Ask the seller in writing about any revenue case, and check the number yourself. The circle office can help: Patna circle officer list.

On site: neighbours usually know first if land is in dispute. See who is in possession and look for any board or notice.

What should you do? (our advice)

• Don't rely on the EC alone. Run all four: EC, mortgage search, CERSAI and eCourts. Their cost is tiny next to the land's price.
• Search a long EC period, at least from before the seller acquired the land.
• Keep the advance small, fully refundable in the agreement if a mortgage or case turns up.
• Put the seller's declaration in the sale deed: no mortgage, case or third-party claim.
• Taking a home loan? Ask the bank for its legal search report and compare it with your checks.
• Also check registration bans ("View Prohibited Properties") and the Patliputra township villages. Common scams: property fraud in Patna. Full process: plot buying guide.

FAQs: Encumbrance Certificate, loans and cases on land in Bihar

1. What happens if I buy land that is under a court case?

   The sale is not void by itself, but you are bound by the outcome of the case. In T.G. Ashok Kumar v. Govindammal (2010), a co-owner sold land during a partition suit. The Supreme Court held the buyer's title survived only for the share the seller finally got. With ancestral land around Patna, this is the most common trap.

2. Who is responsible if the EC search misses something?

   Under the Registration Act, searching the indexes is the applicant's job. Where office staff do the search, the certificate form says they are not responsible for inadvertent mistakes. So treat the EC as one check, not the final word.

3. Does CERSAI show every loan on the land?

   No. It covers banks and financial institutions only. Loans from individuals, moneylenders or relatives won't appear. Also, the portal lets you download a report for an Asset ID only once per search. So save it at once.

4. I'm buying a flat. Is the EC enough?

   No. Also check the builder's project loan and the RERA page: flat buying checklist.