M S NARENDRA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) FIRST petitioner is the son and second petitioner is the mother. First petitioner wants to gift his property (a residential site with a small building) valued at Rs. 6 lakhs to his mother (second petitioner ). He got a gift deed drafted and also obtained a certificate of clearance under Section 230-a of the income-tax Act, 1961, for making the gift. The petitioners approached the second respondent on 3-7-2000 with the intention of getting the gift deed registered and offered to pay stamp duty by demand draft and sought confirmation that the stamp duty payable will be under article 28 (b) of the schedule to the Karnataka stamp act. 1957 ('act' for short) which provides that where the donee is a member of the family of the donor, the stamp duty will be 2% of the market value where the market value is Rs. 50,000/- and above but less than Rs. 10 lakhs. According to the petitioners, the sub-registrar informed them that the stamp duty will have to be paid under article 28 (a) and not under article 28 (b ). Feeling aggrieved, petitioners have filed this petition for the following reliefs:

(2.) ARTICLE 28 of the schedule to the act reads as follows :

(3.) PETITIONERS contend that the mother being the nearest of relations, should always be treated as a member of the family of her son; that a gift by a son to a mother would fall under article 28 (b) but for the explanation which unreasonably restricts the family to husband, wife, sons and daughters; and excluding gifts in favour of other family members like father and mother, from the concessional duty under article 28 (b) amounts to hostile discrimination and the classification made by the definition of family in the explanation is not based on any intelligible differentia and there is no discernible nexus to the object sought to be achieved. Petitioners contend that if a gift from mother to son can fall under article 28 (b) there is no logic in denying such concession in regard to a gift by a son to the mother.