ORDER :- The petitioner, Sri Kirti Ram Tewari, applied to be admitted and enrolled as an Advocate of this Court and prayed for exemption from payment of the stamp duty under Art. 30, Sch. I, Stamp Act, 1899.

2. Being an Advocate of the Court of the Judicial Commissioner, Bilaspur, he fulfilled the necessary qualification under R. 4, Himachal Pradesh Legal Practitioners Rules, 1952, and the application was granted by an order of this Court dated 2-6-1953. Under R. 9 it was still incumbent upon the petitioner to pay stamp duty, if any, chargeable under the Legal Practitioners Act, 1879, or the Stamp Law for the time being in force in Himachal Pradesh, within one month of the date of the order granting the application, or within such further time as may be extended by the Registrar, before the Registrar issued an Enrolment Certificate to him. This stamp duty, amounting to Rs. 300/-, has been paid by the petitioner under protest, hoping to get a refund if he is granted the exemption.

3. The petitioner relies upon the Exemption appended to Art. 30, Sch. I, Stamp Act, 1899, as interpreted in - In re Krishnaswamy, AIR 1943 Mad 455 (SB) (A). There is no doubt that the exemption is clear and

Click Here to Read the rest of this document