Delhi High Court has held that a Registering Authority cannot deny registration even if the price is below the notified circle ratesss, however, after registration it can refer the matter to the collector of stamp.
A bench of Justice bakhru has passed the order in the case titled as ABHISHEK JAIN vs LT. GOVERNOR NCT OF DELHI AND ORS. on 23.09.2019.
The petitioner has filed the present petition, inter alia, impugning a communication dated 29.12.2017 addressed by the Sub- Registrar II (Basai Darapur) to the Collector of Stamps/SDM, Patel Nagar, Old School Building, Ram Pura, New Delhi, impounding the sale deed dated 11.12.2009, executed in favour of the petitioner and one Sh. Subodh Anand in respect of the property bearing No. WZ-15, Kailash Park, Najafgarh Road, Khasra No. 2778/738, Village Basai Darapur, New Delhi. The said communication – a copy of which was also forwarded to the petitioner – indicates that the Sub-Registrar was of the opinion that the stamp duty paid on the said instrument was deficient. Therefore, the Registrar had impounded the same under Section 33 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (hereafter referred to as ‘the Act’). The Registering Authority had found that the said property falls in category ‘F’ and the circle rate for such properties, as prevailing at the material time, was notified at ₹70,080/-. The area of the said property is 437.5 sq. yards (365.79 sq. meters). Accordingly, the Registering Authority had computed the value of the property as per the existing circle rate at ₹2,56,34,563.20/- and the stamp duty payable thereon at ₹15,38,073.79/-.
High Court observed 'At the outset, it is relevant to note that the sale deed was presented to the Registering Authority for registration on 11.12.2009. The said sale deed could not be impounded under Section 33 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 (the Act) as such a recourse is not available to the Registering Authority in such circumstances. Section 47A of the Act, as applicable to Delhi, incorporates the complete code to address a case where the Registering Authority is of the view that the consideration is incorrectly set forth in the sale deed. In order to address the mischief of avoiding payment of stamp duty by undervaluing the property or incorrectly setting forth the consideration in the instrument for sale of an immovable property, by virtue of the Indian Stamp (Delhi Second Amendment) Act, 2001, Section 47A was introduced in the Act, as applicable to Delhi".
It further observed "It is apparent from the above that in the event the Registering Authority has reason to believe that the value of the property or consideration has not been truly set forth in the instrument to be stamped; the Registering Authority is required to, after registering such an instrument, refer the same to the Collector of Stamps for determination of the value of consideration and the proper stamp duty payable thereon. Plainly, there is no option for the Registering Authority to impound the instrument in question and decline registering the same".
High Court also observed "As is clear from the language of Section 47A(1) of the Act, the Registering Authority was required to first register the instrument and thereafter, refer the same to the Collector of Stamps. In this view, the contention that the sale deed is required to be registered is merited".
High Court then explained "If the Registering Authority has reason to believe that the value of the property or the consideration has not been truly set forth in the instrument, he is required to refer the same to the Collector of Stamps for determination of the value/consideration of the property and the proper duty payable thereon. However, the Registering Authority is required to first register the instrument before making any such reference. In either case, the registration of the instrument cannot be withheld".
Read the Order here:
Picture Source :
