IMPORTANT POINT
Agreement to sell – Impounding an agreement to sell of an immovable property after 23 years of its alleged execution, where execution itself is disputed and which was never presented for registration, cannot be permitted.

JUDGMENT

B.P. Routray, J.—Heard Mr. S. Kar, learned Advocate for the Petitioner.

2. Present C.M.P. is directed against the impugned order dated 06.12.2024 passed by the learned Civil Judge (Sr. Divn.), Balliguda in C.S. No.74 of 2019.

3. The Petitioner is the Plaintiff and he filed the suit for specific performance of contract along with prayer for damages, mandatory injunction, delivery of possession, etc. The contract is an agreement dated 14.06.1999 for sale of land. Further, according to the Plaintiff, the Defendants furnished a Chuktinama on 11.9.2000 upon receipt of money by way of Bankers Cheque from the Plaintiff. Said Chuktinama dated 11.9.2000 has been furnished on a five rupees stamp paper, as per the Plaintiff’s case.

4. During pendency of the suit, the Plaintiff filed a petition under Order 13 Rule 8, C.P.C. praying for a direction to the authority for impounding said Chuktinama dated 11.09.2000. Learned trial court accordingly sent the document for impounding to the revenue authority, who in return submitted as per his Letter dated 28.3.2024 (Annexure-7) that, since said document was never presented for registration, question of impounding the same does not arise. Consequently, learned trial court rejected the prayer of the Plaintiff for impounding said document vide his order dated 06.12.2024 and the same is impugned in present C.M.P.

5. As seen from record, the suit has been filed in the year 2019 and the petition under Order 13 Rule 8, C.P.C. for impounding the document was presented in the year 2023.

6. Section 38 read with Section 33 & 35 of the Indian Stamp Act (hereinafter referred as “the Act”) permits impounding of such instruments not duly stamped. The provisions under Section 35 & 38 of the Act are reproduced below:-

“35. Instruments not duly stamped inadmissible in evidence, etc.—No instrument chargeable with duty shall be admitted in evidence for any purpose by any person having by law or consent of parties authority to receive evidence, or shall be acted upon, registered or authenticated by any such person or by any public officer, unless such instrument is duly stamped:

Provided that—

(a) any such instrument [shall] be admitted in evidence on payment of the duty with which the same is chargeable, or, in the case of an instrument insufficiently stamped, of the amount required to make up such duty, together with a penalty of five rupees, or, when ten times of the amount of the proper duty or deficient portion thereof exceeds five rupees, of a sum equal to ten times of such duty or portion;

(b) where any person from whom a stamped receipt would have been demanded, has given an unstamped receipt and such receipt, if stamped, would be admissible in evidence against him, then such receipt shall be admitted in evidence against him on payment of a penalty of one rupee by the person tendering it;

(c) where a contract or agreement of any kind is effected by correspondence consisting of two or more letters and any one of the letters bears the proper stamp, the contract or agreement shall be deemed to be duly stamped;

(d) nothing herein contained shall prevent the admission of any instrument in evidence in any proceeding in a criminal Court, other than a proceeding under Chapter XII or Chapter XXXVI of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898;

(e) nothing herein contained shall prevent the admission of any instrument in any Court when such instrument has been executed by or on behalf of the Government, or where it bears the certificate of the Collector as provided by section 32 or any other provision of this Act.

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38. Instruments impounded, how dealt with.—(1) When the person impounding an instrument under section 33 has by law or consent of parties authority to receive evidence and admits such instrument in evidence upon payment of a penalty as provided by section 35 or of duty as provided by section 37, he shall send to the Collector an authenticated copy of such instrument, together wi