Old Land Records (Sethwar, Wasool Baqui, Tippan, Old Adangal): Which Office Holds Them, and How RTI Helps

Which Office Holds Which Old Record

The records below are the ones customers ask us for by name. Where an office issues a certified copy over its own counter or through MeeSeva, that route is usually faster than an RTI; use RTI when the office says the record is not traceable, gives no reply, or will not say what it holds.

Offices and routes above were read from Government of Telangana district Survey and Land Records pages, Government of Andhra Pradesh district pages and the Andhra Pradesh Act, checked on 20 September 2026. Districts describe their own services, and some Telangana district Revenue services lists carry Sethwar and Wasool Baqui as well, so check both lists for your own district.

Two Things That Decide Whether the Record Is Found

Name the record the way the office names it. Customers often write "Podi Tippan". No Telangana or Andhra Pradesh Government page we could find uses that term (in Karnataka, Podi is the official name of a different service). The office recognises Tippan (or Teepan, or Tippon), and lists Patta Subdivisions separately as a service of its own, so ask for both by those names.

Give the office enough to search with. A survey number alone is not enough where villages have been renamed, merged or moved between mandals. Put in the survey number with any sub-division, the village as it is written in the record, the mandal and the district, and the years you want, one by one.

Old Adangal or Pahani for Particular Years

In Telangana, Government of Telangana district pages list Old Adangal / Pahani Details as a MeeSeva service separate from the current adangal (checked on 20 September 2026), so ask the MeeSeva counter for it by that name, and name each year.

How far back an office actually holds them is the open question. We could not find any published Government retention rule, record-room schedule or year cut-off for old adangal in either state (checked on 20 September 2026). That is a question worth putting in writing: instead of asking only for the copies, ask the office to state which years it holds for that village, and where the earlier years were sent. A written answer to that question is useful even when the copies themselves do not come.

What the Online Portals Show

The Andhra Pradesh portal Meebhoomi names Adangal, 1B, survey number and LP map, and the pattadar passbook in its own page title and description; the lookups themselves ask for a citizen login. Telangana now runs Bhu Bharati, whose public modules cover land status, market value, prohibited lands, encumbrance and registered document details; the Telangana Bhu Bharati (Record of Rights in Land) Act, 2025 provides for the repeal of the 2020 Act, with savings, and section 12 provides for the extract on the portal and for certified copies. Neither portal states which past years it serves (checked on 20 September 2026). Telangana district pages list old adangal as a separate MeeSeva service, so the offices above are the better place to start for the older registers.

Common Questions

The offices and services named below come from the same Government district pages and state Acts as the table above, checked on 20 September 2026.

Who holds the Sethwar and Tippan for my survey number?

In Telangana, the district Survey and Land Records office. Certified copies of Sethwar, Wasool Baqui, Tippans and village maps are listed as MeeSeva or TS Online services by Government of Telangana district offices, including Medchal-Malkajgiri. Some district Revenue services lists also carry Sethwar and Wasool Baqui through MeeSeva, so check both lists for your district.

How do I get adangal for an old year such as 1992?

In Telangana, Government of Telangana district pages list Old Adangal / Pahani Details as a MeeSeva service separate from the current adangal, so ask the MeeSeva counter for it by that name. In Andhra Pradesh, ask the mandal revenue office, which is where the recording authority notified by the Collector ordinarily sits; ask it to confirm that it holds them, or to transfer the application if it does not. We could not find any published rule on how far back offices keep them, so it is worth asking the office to state which years it holds and where earlier years went.

Can RTI get the file behind a record-of-rights appeal order?

You can ask for it. Section 5(5) of the Andhra Pradesh Act of 1971 says the appeal lies to the authority prescribed by the Rules, so the office holding the file is the one named on your order: address the RTI there, quoting the order number, its date and the survey numbers. Section 5-B, and the third proviso to Section 5(1), each name the Revenue Divisional Officer for other appeals under the same Act, so read your own order to see which provision it was made under.

Is a copy of an old register proof that I own the land?

No. It is a copy of what the office recorded. Ownership is decided by the civil and revenue processes, not by an RTI reply.

Why This Problem Happens

Old land records were written as separate village registers, and they stayed with different offices as departments were reorganised and states were divided. A citizen is sent between the Tahsildar, the survey office and a MeeSeva counter because each holds a different part of the record, and no one tells them which office holds the one they need.

RTI is useful because it converts a verbal follow-up into a written, record-based request. The public authority must either provide the available record, transfer the application to the correct authority, or cite the legal reason for refusal.

How RTI can help

A focused RTI can ask for:

• Certified copies of the named registers for a survey number: Sethwar, Wasool Baqui, Tippan, Patta Subdivision records, village map, FMB, RSR, 1-B or adangal for named years.
• Which years of adangal or pahani the office holds for that village, and where the earlier years were transferred.
• File movement and pending reason where an application is stuck.
• Copy of the order, notice, endorsement, or rule relied upon by the authority.
• The designation of the officer who maintains and certifies that register, and the procedure and fee for a certified copy.
• Transfer details under Section 6(3) if another office holds the record.

Sample RTI questions

1. Please state whether the Sethwar, Wasool Baqui, Tippan and Patta Subdivision records for Survey No. [number, with sub-division] of [village] village, [mandal] mandal, [district] district are available in your office.
2. Please provide certified copies of those records, or state the procedure and the fee payable if they are issued over the counter or through MeeSeva rather than under the RTI Act.
3. Please state which years of adangal or pahani for that village are held in your office, and the office to which the earlier years were transferred.
4. For an order made on appeal: please provide a copy of the order dated [date] and the record of the proceedings in that appeal, including the notices issued and the documents relied upon.
5. If a record is said to be untraceable or damaged, please provide the noting in which that was recorded, and state what step has been taken to reconstruct or locate it.
6. Please provide the procedure, fee, and office responsible for issuing certified copies or extracts.
7. If another public authority holds the record, please transfer the RTI under Section 6(3).

Likely Public Authority

For the village survey registers, the Public Information Officer of the district Survey and Land Records office. For adangal, pahani and the 1-B, the Public Information Officer at the mandal revenue office, where the recording authority notified by the Collector ordinarily sits; ask it to confirm that it is the recording authority, or to transfer the application if it is not. For the papers behind an appeal, the office named on the order. If you address the wrong office, the application should be transferred under Section 6(3).

Details to keep ready

• Survey number, with the sub-division if there is one
• Village as written in the record, with mandal and district
• The years you want, listed one by one
• Any earlier spelling or name of the village, if it was renamed or merged
• Application/receipt details if any
• Record needed
• Any old copy, EC, index, or reference available to you

What RTI Can and Cannot Do

RTI can ask for copies of records an office already holds, for a written statement of which years it holds, and for the reasons recorded when a record is said to be untraceable.

RTI cannot decide ownership or correct a title dispute, and a copy of an old register is not by itself proof of title. It also cannot conjure a record that the office does not hold: the Telangana State Archives lists Asaf Jahi and Daftar records, Muntakhabs and gazettes on its holdings and issuance pages, and neither page, read on 20 September 2026, mentions a village Sethwar, Tippan or pahani.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Do not ask the PIO to give opinions or explanations outside records.
• Do not include unnecessary personal allegations.
• Do not ask for too many unrelated records in one RTI, and do not ask for "all records" of a village without a survey number.
• Do not publish private identifiers when using the query as a public learning page.
• Do not forget to ask for certified copies where copies are needed, and do not use a name the office does not use: ask for a Tippan and for Patta Subdivision records rather than a "Podi Tippan".

When to file First Appeal

File a First Appeal if the authority gives no reply, gives a vague reply, refuses without citing a specific RTI exemption, avoids certified copies, or does not transfer the RTI even though another public authority holds the records.