DISTRICT COLLECTOR ERNAKULAM Vs. ITTIAVIRA JOHN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The deed of conveyance executed by the Respondent for consideration of Rs. 3,500/- was stamped for purpose of stamp duty under Article 21 of the Kerala Stamp Act, on the amount or value of the consideration at the rate specified in the Article. On objection being taken, to the sufficiency of the stamp duty, the Collector held that stamp duty had to be levied on the market-value of the property as assessed by the Tahsildar in his report, viz., Rs. 48,000/-. The Respondent preferred an appeal to the District Court under Section 45-A Clause (4) of the Act. The District Court took the view that the Collector's action was unjustified and his order was unsustainable having regard to the provisions of the Stamp Act, This view of the District Judge has been canvassed in this revision petition.

(2.) We may usefully extract Articles 21, 22, 29 and 31 of the Stamp Act, which read as follows:

(3.) The learned Advocate General fairly drew our attention to the decision of the Supreme Court in Himalaya House Co. Ltd. v. The Chief Controlling Revenue Authority (MR 1972 SC 899), where the provisions of the Central Stamp Act were consider-ed. In that Act as considered by the Supreme Court, there was no provision which empowered the Revenue to make an independent enquiry of the value of the property conveyed for determining the duty chargeable. Article 23 of that Act corresponds to Article 21 of the Kerala Act The Supreme Court referred to a series of decisions which had taken the view that in order to see whether a document had been sufficiently stamped, the document itself as it stands had to be looked, at And not any collateral facts or circumstances. This view taken by the Courts was endorsed and accepted as correct by the Supreme Court on the principle of stare decisis. Such, being the principle in the absence of appropriate legislative amendment to Article 21 of the Kerala Stamp Act, the view; taken by the learned District Judge is correct We dismiss this revision petition, but without costs.