How to Buy Property (Part 2)

Every patwari keeps his own register — on such a date a fard-e-bai (sale extract) was issued, on such a date the passed registry reached the Sub-Registrar's office, on such a date the registry was sent to the Tehsildar for approval, on such a date a general assembly (jalsa-e-aam) was held, on such a date the mutation for that registry was entered — patwar register, sarkar register — on such a date the patwari issued the fard-e-bai and duly notified [the parties], on such a date the passed registry was received by the patwari and forwarded on such-and-such date, on such a date a general assembly was held, on such a date its mutation was passed. These registers are nothing — ordinary registers meant to be cross-checked, and they cross-check each other and that's it. You don't even know what the 'part-patwar' register is, so you will never even check it. You don't know what the 'fard-e-sarkar' is, so you won't check that either. You don't know what the part-patwar register is, so you don't know who holds it. You don't know what fard-e-sarkar is, so you don't know where that register is kept. It's all done sitting in the office — [they say] a general assembly was held, when they went to the spot — this happened, all these people appeared, this happened, thumbprints and signatures were taken — all the formalities happen, everything — but you must run that same chain, the physical chain — from whom you are buying, go to the person from whom he bought, go to the person from whom that person bought, go to the person from whom that person bought — until you are fully satisfied that whoever is left, neither his father nor grandfather are alive, nor is there any claimant alive. If there is a claimant, he lives right there with that same property, and he says, yes sir, our father and grandfather sold it long ago — he doesn't even know when it was sold. Tracing a property in the revenue department is very difficult. I gave a lecture explaining the whole hierarchy — from Pakistan down to the province, from the province down to the division, from the division down to the district, from the district down to the tehsil, from the tehsil onward to the khewat, from the khewat then to the khatooni, from the khatooni then to the khasra, from the khasra then onward to the khasra number — I gave you all that detail. Value these things, look into these things. Now what's the problem here? Self-medication can be very necessary for everyone, but almost no one avoids it — ninety percent of people. My head hurts — I don't know why my head hurts, the doctor knows, but I took a Panadol. My knees hurt — I don't know why, the doctor knows, but I said, so-and-so had knee pain and took Diclofenac, so I took Diclofenac too. This same self-medication mentality is present in your property buying and selling. You get your document drafted by a middle-pass deed-writer for the transaction that happens when buying property from another party. To save your money, you don't go to any experts. However experienced a compounder [pharmacy assistant] may be, he can never be as good a physician or as good a surgeon as an MBBS, FRCS doctor — he is just a compounder, he cannot compete with doctors. The whole village benefits from him, the whole village is satisfied with him, but when they die, they die because of that same compounder. I went to the compounder, I felt better, I came back, great — if it didn't help, or the medicine had an adverse reaction — [say] he gave knee medicine for a headache, or headache medicine for a knee problem, and there's an adverse reaction — the loss is the patient's. The same problems exist with property. For God's sake, wherever area you live in, do a survey in that area. After doing that survey, find the relevant person — a law graduate who understands property matters, who is experienced — go to him. That deed-writer who takes five thousand rupees and writes your agreement to sell, because of which you end up having to knock on the court's door — instead, pay ten or fifteen thousand and have it drafted by a lawyer who drafts it with the Supreme Court in mind — that if any dispute arises, we will win all the way to the Supreme Court, our matters will proceed all the way to the Supreme Court. The deed-writer will say, whatever documents you gave me, I wrote it accordingly. The lawyer will say, get these documents verified. Eighty percent of litigation in Pakistan happens because of lawyers' fees, or people say, why should we pay? — and then, when that same case goes bad, they are ready to give lawyers lakhs of rupees; they are afraid to give thousands but become ready to give lakhs. So my request to you is that whenever you buy any property, keep in mind the things I have told you. These things take years to learn from a book — I have told you in a few minutes.