The main legal principle established in the judgment is that the valuation of property for stamp duty assessment should be based on the fair market value determined by the Court through the public auction process, and the adjudicating authority must accept this valuation as the fair market value or the actual sale price, whichever is higher, for stamp duty assessment.

G.S.Patel, J.

In execution of a decree or an award, an immovable property is sold by public auction by this Court acting on its Original Side as an executing Court. The sale is effected in the regular course through the office of the Sheriff, and the auction sale is conducted in the usual manner, that is to say by obtaining a valuation, setting a reserve price, inviting bids by public advertisement, assessing those bids and then deciding in which bidder's favour, if any, the sale should be knocked down. A sale certificate is then issued by the Prothonotary & Senior Master, again in the usual course. That sale certificate must be stamped and registered - it is, after all, a document of title, or conveying title. When submitted for adjudication under the Maharashtra Stamp Act, how should the authority, the Collector of Stamps, assess the 'market value' of the property? Is he required to accept the value of the accepted bid, as stated in the court-issued sale certificate? Is he required to spend time and resources on an independent enquiry? Or is some of the available material on the record of this Court, and which underlies the auction sale, sufficient for his purposes? Is there a meaningful distinction to be drawn between sales by the government and government bodies at a predetermined price, which has to be accepted by the adjudicating authority as the market value, and a sale by or through a court? These are the questions that arise in this execution application.

2. A few background facts. The property in question, of about 1,821 sq mtrs, is CS No. 1514 of the Lower Parel Division, Final Plot No. 309 of TPS IV Mahim, at Rao Bahadur SK Bole Road, Dadar, near the Portuguese Church. It has, or had, a structure or structures standing on it. The entire property was the subject matter of three attempts at auction sales. The first two attempts failed. The Decree Holders, Pinak Bharat & Co & Bina V Advani, then offered a price of Rs. 15.30 crores. They held a decree in the amount of Rs. 9.39 crores. They submitted that they would set off their decretal claim against that offer, thus fully satisfying the decree, and deposit the balance. They were required to deposit about Rs. 5.40 crores. Their bid was accepted. They deposited the balance amount.

3. The order that I then made, consequent on the acceptance on 30th October 2018 required the Prothonotary and Senior Master to issue a sale confirmation certificate. This was obviously then to be lodged with the Collector of Stamps. There was a Sheriff's Report No. 76 of 2018 of 26th October 2018 (a few days prior) which specifically sought a direction to the Stamp Duty Authorities to register the sale certificate "on the basis of the auction price of Rs. 15.30 crores".

4. When the matter was mentioned yesterday, Mr Sharma on behalf of the auction purchaser said that the Collector of Stamps had valued the property at Rs. 155 crores. I asked the Collector to remain present in Court, observing that he could not sit in appeal over orders of this Court. Mr Dadarao Datkar, Collector of Stamps is present in response to that order. I have heard Ms Chavan on behalf of the Government, Mr Sharma on behalf of the auction purchaser and also considered the submissions of Mr Chitgopekar, the Deputy Sheriff. To begin with, Ms Chavan says the earlier assessment was tentative or preliminary, without having all necessary information at hand. Now that additional material is available, including a confirmation that there were tenants, the market value has been reckoned again and is likely to be assessed in the region of about Rs.35 crores approximately.

5. How is the stamp duty to be assessed in such a situation? Article 16 of the Maharashtra Stamp Act reads thus: