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IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
N. ANAND VENKATESH
M.A. Shivakumaran, Director, M/s. Sree Rajeswari Mill Ltd. – Appellant
Versus
Inspector General of Registration-cum-Chief Controlling Revenue Authority – Respondent
ORDER :
N. ANAND VENKATESH, J.
This writ petition has been filed challenging the proceedings of the second respondent dated 29.2.2024 and for a consequential direction to the second respondent to confirm the levy of stamp duty and the registration charges that were originally paid towards the sale agreement dated 16.12.2020 registered as doc.No.9893 of 2020 on the file of the third respondent.
2. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.
3. The case of the petitioner is as follows :
(i) A sale agreement dated 16.12.2020 came to be executed by the petitioner in favour of one Mr.K.Rakesh Kumar with respect to certain properties belonging to the petitioner company. As per the said sale agreement, the total sale consideration was fixed at Rs.29.49 Crores. A sum of Rs.10 lakhs was payable towards advance. The balance amount was payable at various stages towards discharging the liability of the petitioner company owed to a financial institution.
(ii) For this purpose, the agreement holder was given the right of collecting the original title documents from the financial institution on settling the dues. That apart,
Procedural compliance under Section 33A of the Indian Stamp Act is essential and if satisfied, appeals should resolve substantive disputes rather than writ petitions.
Procedural compliance under Section 33A of the Indian Stamp Act suffices for levy of deficit stamp duty; remedy through appeal is not barred by concurrent writ proceedings.
![Hiranandani Township Private Limited [now “Hiranandani Realtors Private Limited”] Represented by its Authorized Signatory, R. Rajaratnam, Mumbai VS Chief Controlling Revenue Authority and Inspector General of Registration - 2021 Supreme(Mad) 3507](https://supremetoday-s3.b-cdn.net/Madras_3.png)
The liability to pay stamp duty on auction sale certificates is not exempted by procedural errors; legal provisions must be adhered to strictly.
The applicable stamp duty for an unregistered agreement of sale for open agricultural land falls under Article 6(A) of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, not Article 6(B).
The court established that the original document's custody is not a prerequisite for invoking Section 33A of the Indian Stamp Act for recovering deficit stamp duty.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the petitioner was not liable to pay deficit stamp duty and registration fees, and the impounding of the registered sale certificate was quash....
Notices lacking specific details regarding deficiencies in Stamp Duty violate principles of natural justice, rendering recovery orders invalid.
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