Savitri Shrestha's husband, Dhal Bahadur Shrestha, came to Bhaktapur from Ramechhap around 2050 BS and bought 4 annas of land. The Shrestha couple were struggling in Bhaktapur to raise their son Suresh and daughter Sabina.

During the Covid pandemic, Dhal Bahadur died of fever on 20 Bhadra 2077. Since then, Savitri has been managing the household. The rusted house built at that time has started leaking when water comes. 

‘After my husband’s death, I focused on educating my children,’ said Sabina, ‘Now, when I try to build a new house, the land in my husband’s name has not been transferred to me.’ According to Section 239(a) of the provisions on inheritance in Chapter 11 of the Civil Code 2074, Savitri has been going to the ward office, land revenue and surveyor’s office for years, carrying the marriage certificate and death certificate in my husband’s name. ‘The law does not prevent the transfer of land that is registered in my name,’ said Savitri, ‘We could neither transfer this land in my name nor approve the plan for building a new house.’

They have an old house in their village. However, her family, who have lived here for years, do not want to return to the village. ‘My husband worked hard and brought us to the city from the village. This land is also his symbol for us,’ she said, showing the title deed in her husband’s name. ‘I don’t have the means to buy a new one after leaving so much property. What should I do? I haven’t even thought about it.’

Shanti Prasad Ghimire also bought 7 aanas of land with a house in the same place after making a judgment in India. The Ghimire family had bought the land with a house here with the hope of living near the capital and making it easier to educate their children. ‘We bought the land and the house that we had attached in 2064 BS by investing 20 lakhs, and we got the title deed as per the rules. However, 6 years after buying it, we found out that the land had been blocked,’ Ghimire said. ‘We haven’t received any letters. When our neighbor informed us that the land was blocked when we went to get the map for building a house approved, we also found out that the land was blocked.’

Now, it seems that we can’t even sell this land and do anything. We can’t even put a deposit in the bank. Ghimire added, ‘This is my lifetime earnings in the name of property. What will I do if something happens one day? I worry.’ Ghimire has a family of five.

Another Khanal couple, who bought two and a half annas of land in the same place in 2063 BS, is also in a similar predicament. Rajan Basnet, showing the title deed in the name of his wife Renu Basnet Khanal, said, ‘We do not own the land we bought by paying money.’

His question is, ‘Where should we go after leaving our lifetime earnings?’ His son Suraj says that despite having property, they are like squatters. ‘Even when we face difficulties, our land is useless. We are running around saying that we need our land,’ Suraj said, recounting the frustration he has felt, ‘We purchased the land according to the state rules. For this reason, I am not in a position to start a new business. Who will give us justice?’

Pamma Bahadur Khatri, who came from Ramechhap in 2060 and bought three and a half an aana of land and built a three-story house, is also shocked by the state law. ‘I bought the land in my wife’s name after paying the land tax, and built the house after getting the map approved. Now this land is withheld,’ said Khatri. ‘If there was a problem with this land, why did you sell it to us at that time? Why didn’t you stop us from making the house map? This state is ruining our family of four.’ Khatri said that even when he sent his daughter abroad, he had a problem because he could not show the land he bought and the house he built as property. 

Most of the homeowners in Madhyapur Thimi Municipality 7, Ghuncho Height, Bhaktapur have red red certificates issued by the government. They are in pain after the government informed them that they had issued the red certificates without any problems after spending lakhs of rupees to buy houses and land. However, they have not stopped paying the land tax. Padam Bahadur Khatri from the same place had also purchased 5 anas of land here. He said that the land plots number 984 and 985, which he had registered and purchased at the Bhaktapur Land Revenue Office, were blocked because they could not be updated.

‘When I went to update the land in 2078, I was told that my land was blocked due to the limitation. I also went to court. The court said that the bench order was invalid, that the bench had been revoked on this land,’ Khatri said, ‘The court gave a letter to the Land Revenue Office asking me to do whatever I wanted, and when I went to the Land Revenue Office with the letter, I was denied the opportunity to update it, saying that your land is under consideration in the court, and the previous plot number 626 of this land is in the name of Devrajya Lakshmi Devi Rana.’ Khatri says that the state itself has decided to release the land by providing the title deed from the Limitation Land Sale Prevention Committee.

The couple, Narayan Bahadur Karki, 81, and Ganga Karki, 71, are not only suffering from not having the right to their land, but are also worried after seeing problems with the land they sold. ‘This land was in the name of my wife’s mother. Due to illiteracy, when the land was measured, it was recorded in the name of Devrajya Lakshmi Devi Rana,’ said Narayan. ‘After that, on 24 Ashar 2044, this land came in the name of my wife Ganga with the right of tenant. After that, we sold some of the land for family reasons.’

He said that he sold 5 plots of land to meet the expenses of the family. ‘They say that the 1 ropani 3 anna land that I currently have has also been withheld. I have heard that we are facing problems due to the limitation of Devrajya Lakshmi Devi Rana. No one has given official information. The land that was sold and bought according to the law was not a problem.’

Narayan says that it hurts even more when he has to hear the accusation that he sold the land by lying. ‘There was no withholding when we bought it and there was no withholding when we sold it,’ he said. ‘Even the land that we sold has been re-bought. Now we have been treated unfairly.' He said that this is why it is difficult to send his sons and grandchildren abroad for studies.

Narayan complained that he could not sell his land even though he was ashamed to pay off his bank loans. He says that even though he approached people's representatives and leaders he knew about the problem, his concerns were ignored. 'If it was possible to bargain, I would have done so,' Narayan said. Narayan has a regular grocery store at his house. Due to money, he has not been able to properly stock up on goods. He was also an employee of the Land Reforms Office when it was there. However, he said that he only learned about this issue in 2072. Currently, the price in this area is between 30 and 40 lakhs per anna.

The Land Reforms Office, Bhaktapur, wrote a letter to the Land Revenue Office on 24 Kartik 2057, stating that the land acquired by Devrajya Lakshmi Devi Rana through the limitation was sold in the name of the concerned tenant by the Limitation Land Sale Prevention Committee on 13 Asoj 2043, and ordered 15 plots of land in this area to be released and provided with deeds as per the rules.

However, Madhav Ghimire, Chief Land Revenue Officer of the Land Reforms and Land Revenue Office, Bhaktapur, says that this decision is very old and has been withheld as per the instructions of the Land Reforms and Management Department. The department's letter mentions that the land has been withheld as it is under investigation by the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority. The land, which was bought and sold between dozens of rich people, has been withheld since the Commission sent a letter to the department on 18 Magh 2072 10 years ago. However, CIAA spokesperson Suresh Neupane says that they cannot speak on the matter as it is a subject of investigation.