Petition under Article 227 of the Constitution of India, praying that in the circumstances stated in the grounds filed herein, the High Court may be pleased set aside the Docket Order Dt.28-10-2024, in O.S No. 16 of 2021, on the file of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Amalapuram, East Godavari District and pass

IA NO: 1 OF 2025

Petition under Section 151 CPC praying that in the circumstances stated in the affidavit filed in support of the petition, the High Court may be pleased to grant stay of all further proceedings in O.S No. 16 of 2021, on the file of Civil Judge (Senior Division), Amalapuram, East Godavari District, pending disposal of the above C.R.P and pass

The Court made the following:

ORDER

Assailing the correctness and legality of the orders passed by the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Amalapuram, dated 28.10.2024 in O.S.No.16 of 2021, on the objection of stamp duty and penalty for admissibility of documents, the present Civil Revision Petition is filed.

The facts that led to filing of this Revision are that the petitioner is the defendant and the respondent is the plaintiff in a suit filed for specific performance of agreement of sale dated 07.07.2020.

The respondent/plaintiff filed a suit for specific performance of agreement of sale dated 07.07.2020, in respect of item No.1 of the plaint schedule property by executing registered sale deed. At the time of marking the suit document, the petitioner herein/defendant took an objection about the marking of the documents on the ground that the agreement of sale (suit document) is not properly stamped as there is a recital in the agreement of sale about the possession which is a conveyance deed and required stamp duty as per Stamps and Registration Act. On the said objection, the Court below dealt with the issue and accordingly the objection raised by the defendant for payment of stamp duty and penalty held unsustainable and it is overruled on the ground that as per the admission of the defendant regarding the possession kept with him in the reply notice sent by him through his counsel to the plaintiff dated 01.11.2020 and accordingly held that the plaintiff is not required to pay the stamp duty and penalty on agreement of sale dated 07.07.2020. Assailing the same, the present Civil Revision Petition is filed.

Heard Sri T.V.Jaggi Reddy, learned counsel for the petitioner and Sri P.V. Krishnaiah, learned counsel for the respondent.

Learned counsel for the petitioner while reiterating the grounds of revision submitted that in the suit document i.e., agreement of sale dated 07.07.2020 with regard to item No.1 of the schedule property, there is clear recital about delivery of possession to the plaintiff. Once there is a recital in the document, it should be properly stamped as per Schedule 1A of Article 47 of the Indian Stamps Act, 1899. On the objection raised by the defendant at the time of marking the document, the Court has dealt the issue and passed orders rejecting his objection holding that the suit document is not liable for stamp duty and penalty on the ground that in the reply notice given by the defendant, he has stated that the suit schedule property is in his possession. He further submitted that the Court below failed to see the well settled principle as laid in Omprakash v. Laxminarayan & Ors, (2014) 1 SCC 618

On the other hand, learned for the respondent submitted that there is neither illegality nor impropriety in the order passed by the Court below. The Court has given a detailed order more so it has dealt the objection like a suit and given elaborate reasoning while rejecting the petitioner’s/defendants objection. The Court below also taken into consideration the Division Bench Judgment of the Composite High Court in B.Ratnamala v. G.Rudramma²1999 (6) ALD 160. In fact, the respondent/plaintiff issued a legal notice before filing the suit for which the petitioner/defendant issued a reply notice dated 01.11.2020 wherein he has categorically stated that he is i