The Supreme Court of India recently struck down Bihar rules that required sellers to provide mutation proof before registering property sale or gift deeds. These rules, added in 2019, were declared ultra vires and arbitrary. The court said these rules went beyond legal powers and wrongly made mutation proof a condition for registering property documents. The court emphasized that registering a deed is not the same as proving ownership. Ownership disputes belong to civil courts, not registration offices. Bihar’s attempt to link registration with title proof was rejected, given the lack of completed land surveys and digitized land records. In June, a similar ruling against Tamil Nadu's rule was made, reinforcing that registration officers cannot decide ownership. The court highlighted long-standing land governance issues in India, calling property transactions “traumatic” due to fragmented systems and outdated laws. It suggested large reforms and praised digitization efforts like Karnataka’s Bhoomi and KAVERI systems. The Supreme Court also recommended exploring blockchain technology to make land records transparent and tamper-proof. Blockchain stores land data in linked blocks on a decentralised ledger, preventing fraud and altering history. Andhra Pradesh’s pilot with blockchain reportedly cut land disputes by half and boosted transaction efficiency by 30%. The court’s decision underlines the urgent need for administrative and technological reforms to protect property rights and ease land transactions in India.