IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HON’BLE SRI JUSTICE K.SARATH WRIT PETITION No.36821 OF 2025 Date: 07.01.2026 Between:

Sri Salguti Vishnuvardhan Reddy and two others …Petitioners AND The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Principal Secretary, Stamps and Registration, Secretariat, Hyderabad and others …Respondents

ORDER:

Heard Mr.Pawan Kumar Agarwal, learned Counsel for the petitioners and Smt. S.Sravanthi, learned Assistant Government Pleader for Stamps and Registration appearing for the respondents and perused the material on record.

2. Learned Counsel for the petitioners submits that this writ petition is filed by the petitioners questioning the action of the respondent No.2 in refusing to register the Partition Deed dated 31.10.2025 bearing Pending Document No.P247/2025 and in issuing the Notice No.P247/2025 dated 06.11.2025 demanding deficit stamp duty and TDS proof as being illegal, arbitrary and without jurisdiction and consequently requested to set aside the Notice No.P247/2025 dated 06.11.2025 issued by the Respondent No.2 and direct the Respondent No.2 to forthwith release the Partition Deed dated 31.10.2025 bearing Pending Document No.P247/2025 presented by the Petitioners without insisting on payment of any additional stamp duty or registration fee or proof of TDS remittance.

3. Learned Counsel for the petitioners further submits that the Petitioners are co-owners and are in joint possession of the property bearing premises No. 1-4- 92 to 1-4-92/2, situated at New Town, Mahabubnagar Town, Mahabubnagar District, admeasuring a total extent of 10,951 Square Yards (hereinafter referred to as the "subject property"). With a view to partitioning the subject property, the Petitioners executed a Deed of Partition. Accordingly, they presented the Partition Deed on 31.10.2025 before the registering authorities and the same is pending. The Petitioners have paid the requisite stamp duty of Rs. 12,98,850/- and a registration fee of Rs. 1,00,000/- as applicable to a partition deed under Article 40 of Schedule I-A of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (herein referred as “the Act”).

4. Learned Counsel for the petitioners further submits that in the contents of the document, there is no mention with regard to the consideration between the petitioners for executing the partition deed. While mentioning in the proforma, they mentioned as “consideration” of the property instead of “market value”. In view of the same, the registering authority issued notice to the petitioners on 06.11.2025 and directed to pay deficit stamp duty to an amount of Rs.95,40,650/- under Article 20(c) of Schedule I-A of the Act and the same is impugned in the instant writ petition. Thereafter the petitioners have submitted reply to the said notice on 15.11.2025. In spite of that, the respondents are not releasing the document. Hence, the petitioner filed the instant writ petition.

5. Learned Assistant Government Pleader for Stamps and Registration basing on the counter filed by the respondent No.3 submits that the document was kept pending under Section 33 of the Act for compliance. There is no dispute with regard to the Joint ownership, partition looses its character once consideration is introduced. But the nature of the instruments as executed and presented in which allotment is made “for consideration”, the document ceases to be a pure partition and becomes a conveyance, irrespective of family relationship. The statement of the petitioner that the payment under Article 40 concludes the matter is legally untenable and denied. Under Section 33 read with Section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act, the registering officer is duty-bound to examine: recitals, schedules, consideration clauses and annexures in the document presented before him. Once consideration is found, Article 40 becomes inapplicable, and the document must be classified under Article 20(c). The petitioner herein submitted in his reply to the notice dated 06.11.2025 on

15.11.2025 which