JUDGMENT

R.M. LODHA, J.

These four appeals at the instance of the State of Uttaranchal and the Officers of its Forest Department are directed against the judgment dated December 27, 2007 passed by the High Court of Uttarakhand whereby the Division Bench allowed the review petitions filed by present respondents (writ petitioners) and reviewed its earlier judgment dated April 13, 2004 and thereby allowed the writ petitions filed by the writ petitioners holding that they were not liable to pay stamp duty on the documents pertaining to contract of sale for crude resin. Since the facts and documents involved in this group of appeals are identical, for convenience, we shall refer to the facts and documents in Civil Appeal No. 5876 of 2009. The controversy arises in this way.

2. The Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital Forest Range, Nainital notified public auction of resin at Bhuwali Forest Rest House on March 24, 2001. The writ petitioner (Khurana Brothers) participated in that public auction. Its bid in the sum of Rs. 3,90,000/- being the highest bid was accepted by the Divisional Forest Officer, Nainital and the formal contract of sale for crude resin was entered into between the compete