Property Papers Lost? What to Do in Patna to Get Each One Back (2026)

Papers lost: what to do first

Don't panic. Losing the papers does not take the land out of your name. The registry office keeps the deed record for good, and the jamabandi is online. Go in this order:

1. Keep whatever is left. Photocopies, phone photos, old rent receipts, a half-burnt page: throw nothing away.
2. Search for the registry message. For new registries, a PDF link to the deed goes to both parties' mobile or email.
3. Write down the key details: deed number, registry year, registry office, mauza, khata and khesra. An old receipt or the online jamabandi shows most of them.
4. File a lost report at the police station. If the papers were stolen, file an FIR. How, below.
5. Get the certified copy of the sale deed. This is the most important paper.
6. Get the rest online: jamabandi, khatiyan, rent receipt, map (table below).

Selling the land or taking a loan on it? Also keep a newspaper notice and an affidavit ready. Buyers and banks often ask for them.

Where to get each paper back

Ancestral land and not a single paper at home? Start with the khatiyan. Then check the online jamabandi to see whose name the land is in today.

Sale deed copy: not a duplicate, a certified copy

People search for a "duplicate registry" when the deed is lost. But the original deed is never issued again. The registry office gives a certified copy instead. Under the Registration Act, this copy is accepted to prove what the original deed says.

• Registered on or after 16 Dec 2024: log in at enibandhan.bihar.gov.in, then "Certified Copy". You get a digitally signed copy online.
• 2006 to 15 Dec 2024: first find the deed on Bhumijankari. Then try applying on e-Nibandhan. If that fails, go to the same registry office.
• Before 2006: from the record room of the same registry office. Fill in the search and copy form and keep the fee receipt.

An online copy and an office copy count the same. Fees, Patna's registry offices and every step: how to get a sale deed copy in Bihar.

Source: Registration Act 1908; Bihar Registration Rules 2026 (Bihar Gazette No. 759).

Police report, newspaper notice and affidavit: when you need them

Police report: give a written report at the police station of the area where the papers were lost. Bihar Police's citizen charter gives 1 hour to register a lost property report and issue a receipt. Its website also has an online form under "Lost & Found" (खोया-पाया).

Write the mauza, khata, khesra, deed number and year in the report. Keep several photocopies of the receipt. Banks and buyers often ask for it.

Newspaper notice: no government rule requires it. But if you sell the land or take a loan on it, the buyer or bank may ask for one. A short notice in one Hindi and one English paper is usually enough. Sample:

Notice is hereby given that the original sale deed (deed no. ____, year ____, registry office ____) of my land at mauza ____, khata ____, khesra ____, circle ____, district Patna was lost on ____. A report has been filed at ____ police station. The finder may return it to the number below. No dealing on the basis of this paper will be valid. Name ____, address ____, mobile ____.

Affidavit: if the bank or buyer asks, get one notarised. State when and how the paper was lost, the police report number, and that the original was not pledged. Banks often have their own format. Use theirs.

What if the bank lost your property papers?

During a home loan, the bank keeps your original sale deed. If the bank loses or damages it after you repay in full, the RBI rule is on your side:

• The bank must return all original papers within 30 days of full repayment.
• If the delay is the bank's fault, it pays ₹5,000 for each day of delay.
• If the papers are lost or damaged, the bank must help you get certified copies and bear all the costs. It gets 30 extra days for this. After that, a total of 60 days, the daily compensation starts.

This applies where the papers fell due for return on or after 1 December 2023. Complain to the bank in writing. No reply within 30 days? Go to the RBI complaint portal (cms.rbi.org.in).

Source: RBI circular, 13 September 2023.

What should you do? (Our advice)

• Papers still safe? Scan all of them today and keep a copy with another family member. Also get certified copies of old, crumbling deeds.
• Papers already lost: follow the order above. Police report first, then the sale deed copy, then the rest.
• Buying land and the seller says "the original deed is lost"? Be careful. The original may be pledged with a bank or moneylender. Such a pledge is not always registered, so it may not show in the encumbrance certificate (EC) either.
• In such a deal, take the police report, newspaper notice and affidavit from the seller. Full checks: Patna plot buying guide.
• Living outside Patna and can't run between offices? We can get the copies and join the full chain of deeds for you.

Lost property papers: questions and answers

1. I don't know the deed number. How do I get the sale deed copy?

   On the Bhumijankari portal, open "Search By Party Name". Type the seller's or buyer's name in English and pick the year. The result shows the office, mauza, khata and khesra. You can also ask the registry office to search with a rough year and the names. Steps: sale deed copy guide.

2. The papers were burnt or eaten by termites, part of them is left. What now?

   Keep what is left. If it shows the deed number, office or stamp, getting the copy is much easier. Then get the certified copy of the same deed and keep both together.

3. It is ancestral land and we have no papers at all. Where do we start?

   Start with the khatiyan. It shows the raiyat recorded at the survey. Then check the online jamabandi for whose name the land is in today. Splitting it in the family needs a vanshavali (family tree): ancestral land partition.

4. Can I sell land without the original sale deed?

   The deed record is in the government office, so you don't lose ownership. But the buyer and their bank will ask for more: the certified copy, police report, newspaper notice and affidavit. Keep these ready.

5. I deleted the PDF message I got after registry. What now?

   You can still get a digitally signed copy of the same deed from "Certified Copy" on e-Nibandhan. You need the deed number, registry date and office.

Written on 7 November 2026 from the Registration Act 1908, the Bihar Registration Rules 2026, the Bihar Police website and the RBI circular of 13 September 2023. Portal menus can change; go by what the portal or office says when you apply.