Only those co-owners related by specified familial ties are eligible for reduced stamp duty under the Stamp Act.

JUDGMENT

The petitioner is one of the co-owners of the property held jointly by the legal heirs and successors in interest of late Sri.Vallon and his wife, Kurumba. The property originally belonged to Erannoor Mana. Vallon held the property as 'verum pattamdar' under Erannoor Mana (illom). The right, title, and interest of the landlords, namely Erannoor Mana (illom) was later assigned in favour of the legal heirs and successors in interest of the original 'pattamdhar', namely, Vallon by virtue of the purchase certificate issued by the Special Tahsildar, Thrissur dated 24.5.2013. Ext.P1 is the purchase certificate.

2. Vallon married Kurumba. Two children were born out of the said wedlock namely, Kurumba and Thalary. Kurumba got married to Puthenchira Velayudhan and Thalary got married to Koran. Kurumba and Velayudhan had six children, namely Mohanan, Prasad, Sarada, Lalitha, Padmini, and Rajitha. Thalary and Koran had one son namely, Velayudhan. Velayudhan married Vally. They had two children, namely, Pratheesh and Pratheeja.

3. Vallon and his wife Kurumba died intestate. Similarly, Kurumba, Velayudhan and Thalary died intestate leaving behind their wife, children, and grandchildren to succeed to the estate left behind by their great grandfather. Since the properties were held in common by the parties, who are the co-owners, they decided to effect partition of the extent covered by Ext.P1 purchase certificate. Accordingly, a deed of partition was prepared in a stamp paper, worth Rs.1,000/- as provided under Sl. No. 42(a) of the Schedule attached to the Kerala Stamp Act , 1959 which prescribes the payment of the stamp duty to the tune of Rs.1,000/-. According to the petitioner, the partition is among the members of the family and legal heirs of the deceased family members. Ext.P2 is the partition deed dated 19.1.2021. The petitioner in this writ petition is one of the parties in the above partition deed. The petitioner produced a family tree along with the writ petition as Ext.P3, which is extracted hereunder :

FAMILY TREE OF THE CO-OWNERS

4. When Ext.P2 partition deed was produced for registration, the 1st respondent refused to accept Ext.P2 partition deed stating that the parties to the deed of partition do not come within the definition of the word ‘family’ as defined under S.2(fb) of the Kerala Stamp Act and therefore, the stamp duty payable is not Rs.1,000/-. The petitioner on behalf of the other co-owners approached the office of the 3rd respondent in accordance with S.31 of the , requesting to adjudicate the proper stamp duty payable for the deed of partition. The 3rd respondent relegated the parties to appear before the 2nd respondent for adjudication. Ext.P4 is the request made by the petitioner before the 2nd respondent. The 2nd respondent, after adjudication, passed Ext.P5 order in which, the 2nd respondent also concluded that the executants of the Ext.P2 partition deed will not come within the definition of S.2(fb) of the and therefore, the petitioner and the other co-owners should pay the stamp duty as per serial No.42(b) of the Schedule attached to the Kerala . Aggrieved by Ext.P5, this writ petition is filed.

5. Heard counsel for the petitioner and the Government Pleader.

6. The counsel for the petitioner submitted that, in the light of serial No.42(a) of the Schedule to the Kerala Stamp Act r/w S. 2(fb) of the , the finding in Ext.P5 order is unsustainable. The counsel submitted that the words used in serial No.42(a) is members of the family and the legal heirs of the deceased family members. The counsel submitted that the word 'members of the family' used in serial N