TL;DR
- The 7/12 and 8A difference in one line: the 7/12 is organised around a parcel of land, the 8A is organised around a person’s account in a village.
- Both are maintained under section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966. Neither is a title deed and neither proves ownership by itself.
- Pull the 7/12 and you see one survey number. Pull the 8A and you see every holding that khatedar has in the same village.
- That is why the 8A catches things the 7/12 cannot: undisclosed adjacent parcels, a holding split across survey numbers, and a seller who owns less than he implies.
- Both come off the same portal, and on 23 September 2026 it offered exactly four record types: 7/12, 8A, Property Card and K-Prat.
- The free copy of either carries the portal’s own disclaimer that it cannot be used for any governmental or legal purpose.
The 7/12 and 8A difference is not a matter of detail or format: the two records are indexed on different things. One answers “what is happening to this land”. The other answers “what land does this person hold here”. Buyers pull the first, skip the second, and miss the half of the picture that would have told them who they are dealing with.
Terms used on this page
Satbara is the 7/12 extract: the village record of rights for one parcel.
Khatedar is the person recorded as holding the land.
Khata is that holder’s account number in the village.
Mutation is the entry that records a change of holder in the record of rights.
Ferfar is that mutation entry itself, numbered and kept in sequence for the village.
Gat number is the group survey number given to a holding after consolidation.
Guntha is the Maharashtra land unit of 40 to the acre.
What is the 7/12 and 8A difference, in one line?
Both sit within the record of rights that section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 requires in every village, and the difference is the index. The 7/12 is indexed by survey or gat number. The 8A is indexed by the holder’s account in that village. Same data, sorted on a different key to answer a different question.
Village Form VII is the Record of Rights and Village Form XII is the crop register; the combined extract is named for those two village forms, not for sections 7 and 12 of any Act. The forms themselves are prescribed by rules made under section 328 of the Code. The 8A is the account register: it lists the survey numbers standing to one khatedar’s khata in that village, with the area against each.
Put plainly, if you ask the record about land you get a 7/12, and if you ask it about a person you get an 8A. Neither is more official than the other and neither is a deed.
What does each record actually contain?
The overlap is smaller than most buyers expect, and section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 is the common source rather than a guarantee that the two will agree. Where they disagree, the disagreement is itself the finding, and it usually points at an uncertified entry sitting between them.
| Feature | 7/12 extract | 8A extract |
|---|---|---|
| Indexed by | Survey or gat number | Khatedar’s khata in the village |
| Answers | Who holds this parcel, and what is on it | What does this person hold in this village |
| Area shown | For that one parcel, in hectare, are and square metres | Against each survey number in the account, and as a total |
| Other rights column | Yes: charges, tenancies, pending entries, disputed notes | No equivalent column |
| Crop position | Yes, from Village Form XII | No |
| Shows other parcels of the same holder | No | Yes, and that is the point of it |
| Useful for | Reading one parcel in depth | Reading one seller in breadth |
Why does the 8A matter to a buyer at all?
Because a 7/12 will not tell you that the parcel you are buying is one of eleven the seller holds in that village, and section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 gives you the register that will. Breadth is a different risk from depth, and most buyers only ever check depth.
Three things the 8A surfaces routinely. A holding split across several survey numbers, where the seller is quietly selling the accessible part and keeping the landlocked remainder. An area total that does not reconcile with what the seller has been describing. And co-holders who appear against some parcels and not others, which is where a family arrangement usually shows itself.
There is a fourth, less obvious use. If you are buying two adjacent parcels from what you have been told are two unrelated sellers, the 8A will show you whether they are in fact one account.
The 7/12 tells you about the land. The 8A tells you about the person selling it. A title search that skips the second is a search of half the risk.
Girish Chhalwani, Founder & CEO, THE EDGE Developments
Where do you get each one?
Both come off the same state portal, and on 23 September 2026 it offered exactly four record types to choose between: 7/12, 8A, Property Card and K-Prat. You pick the record type first, then narrow to district, taluka and village, all of which are mandatory before the form will accept anything else.
Two observations from that same check are worth carrying. The district list offers thirty-five entries while the portal numbers districts internally up to thirty-six; the one that is absent is Mumbai City, which has no 7/12 at all and sits on Property Cards instead. And Dharashiv, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Ahilyanagar appear only under those names, so a search for Osmanabad, Aurangabad or Ahmednagar returns nothing without telling you why.
The portal is also in Marathi only by its own notice, and a mobile number and captcha are compulsory on every query. Pulling a 7/12 and an 8A for one parcel is therefore two separate manual searches, not one.
Which record settles a dispute?
Neither, and the portal says so itself: its disclaimer states the information shown cannot be used for any governmental or legal purpose. The record of rights under section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 is evidence of possession and of entries made, not a conclusive record of title.
For anything a lender, a court or a sub-registrar will read, you need the digitally signed extract rather than the free screen. And for the underlying question of who owns the land, you need the chain of registered documents, of which the record of rights is a reflection rather than the source.
The honest position is that these two records are a filter, not a conclusion. They are very good at telling you what to investigate next, which is exactly what a first pass should do.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main 7/12 and 8A difference?
The index. A 7/12 is organised around a survey or gat number and tells you about one parcel. An 8A is organised around a khatedar’s account and tells you every parcel that person holds in that village.
Do I need both for a land purchase?
For a serious purchase, yes. The 7/12 gives you depth on the parcel and the 8A gives you breadth on the seller. Each catches defects the other cannot show.
Are the 7/12 and 8A issued under the same law?
Both sit within the record of rights that section 148 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code, 1966 requires to be maintained in every village. They draw on the same underlying record and are sorted on different keys.
Does the 8A prove ownership?
No. Neither record proves ownership. They evidence entries made in the record of rights, while title itself comes from the chain of registered documents.
Why does my district not appear on the portal?
Three districts are listed only under their current names: Dharashiv, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Ahilyanagar. Mumbai City is absent entirely from the 7/12 list because it has no 7/12 and uses Property Cards instead.
Is the free extract accepted by a bank?
Generally not. The portal states its information cannot be used for any governmental or legal purpose, so a lender will ask for the digitally signed version.
Checking a parcel in Karjat, Khopoli or Khalapur? THE EDGE Developments pulls the 8A alongside the 7/12 on every deal, because the seller matters as much as the survey number. Ask us to run both.
Related reading
- The 8A extract explained in full
- How to read a 7/12 extract
- Digital Satbara: the digitally signed 7/12
- Property Card and Malmatta Patrak for urban land
- Check ferfar status online
- Government valuation of land in Maharashtra
- Speak to THE EDGE about a title check
Citations and sources
- MahaBhulekh v2.0, Maharashtra Bhumi Abhilekh — the four record types, the mandatory district, taluka and village fields, the district list, the Marathi-only notice and the disclaimer, all read off the live portal on 23 September 2026.
