B.N. Srikrishna, CJ.

All these petitions under Art.226 of the Constitution of India raise a common question of law and, therefore, they can be properly disposed of by a common judgment.

2. By an order dated 23rd October, 2001, rendered in O.P. Nos. 16943,17651 and 18089 of 2001, a learned judge of this Court (G.Sivarajan, J.) entertained a doubt as to the correct position in law with regard to the construction of S.45-B of the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959 and referred three original petitions for decision thereupon by a Division Bench. In view of the importance of this question, while the issue was pending before the Division Bench of this Court, the other matters were also referred to the Division Bench of this Court.

3. After hearing learned counsel, this Court formulated the question of law to be decided by this Court as under:

"When there is a dispute as to the stamp duty payable on the instrument subject to registration, after registration, is the registering authority under the provisions of the Kerala Stamp Act entitled to retain possession of the original document or is it obliged to return the document and take appropriate proceedings under the Act?"

4. For answering the