RAGHUVARAN Vs. SARADA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) DEFENDANT in a suit on a promissory note is the appellant. He admits the execution of the note; but raised the contentions: (1) that the note was insufficiently stamped and thus the suit on this note was not maintainable; (2) that he was compelled to execute the note and thus there was no. voluntary execution or payment of consideration.

(2.) THE trial court rejected both the contentions and decreed the suit. Hence this appeal Both these contentions are pressed in this court also.

(3.) IN order to meet the expenditure on the relief of bangla Desh refugees, it was decided that both the Centre and the States should levy additional tax, duty or surcharge on "instruments of mass circulation falling within the respective fields of taxation and the additional revenues so realised by the States would be placed by the States at the disposal of the centre". To achieve this object, the Stamp and Excise Duties (Amendment act) 1971, Act 44 of 1971 was enacted which came into force on the 15th November, 197 1. S. 3-A of the Act, alone relevant for the purpose, reads thus: "3a. INstruments chargeable with additional duty. (1) Every instrument chargeable with duty under S. 3 read with Article No. 13,14,27,37,47,49,52,53 or 62 (a) of Schedule I shall, in addition to such duty, be chargeable with a duty of ten paise. (2) The additional duty with which any instrument is chargeable under subsection (1) shall be paid and such payment shall be indicated on such instrument by means of adhesive stamps bearing the inscription "refugee relief" whether with or without any other design, picture or inscription. (3) Except as otherwise provided in sub-section (2), the provisions of this Act. shall, so far as may be, apply in relation to the additional duties chargeable under sub-section (1) in respect of the instruments referred to therein as they apply in relation to the duties chargeable under S. 3 in respect of those instruments".