SANNIDHANAM CHITTIES PVT LTD Vs. REMADEVI MOHANDAS

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Whether copy of the chitty variola signed by one subscriber alone in token of his acceptance of the terms and conditions incorporated therein attracts payment of stamp duty under Article 19 of the Schedule to the Kerala Stamp Act is one of the two questions that arise in this case.

(2.) Under challenge in this writ petition, instituted by the plaintiff, a Chitty Company, is Ext.P4 order passed by the first Additional Munsiff, Ernakulam finding that two documents which were sought to be marked on the plaintiff's side are insufficiently stamped and directing the petitioner to pay deficit stamp duty and penalty. The documents in question have been produced in this writ petition as Exts.P1 and P2. The suit seeks recovery of money due to the petitioner from the defendants on the basis of a kuri transaction in which the first respondent was the subscriber and the petitioner the foreman. Ext.P1 document is captioned as Variola and bears the signature of the first respondent subscriber. Ext.P1 is on plain paper and appears to be a printed copy. Ext.P2 is the Chitty Security Agreement executed between the first respondent subscriber and respondents 2 and 3 (defendants 2 and 3) the sureties and the petitioner company represented by its Managing Director. The document is captioned as Chitty agreement and is stamped as an agreement under Article 5(c) of the schedule to the Kerala Stamp act at Rs. 50/-. The learned Munsiff has held under the impugned order that both the documents are insufficiently stamped and has refered to Article 19 of the Stamp Act. Article 19 provides that the proper stamp duty for Chitty or Kuti Vairola where the total amount subscribed exceeds Rs. 100/- shall be Twenty five Rupees for every Rs. 1,000/- or part thereof the amount subscribed. It is obvious that the learned Munsiff construed Ext.P1 as a Chitty Variola attracting Article 19 while passing the impugned order.

(3.) The expression 'Variola' has been defined under Seciton2 (14) Kerala Chitties Act as the document containing the articles of agreement between the foreman and the subscribers relating to the chitty and includes vairmpu and kurippattika or other similar instruments. The Central Statute, viz, the Chit Funds Act 1982, does not use the expression vairola, but refers to the corresponding document as chitty agreement which is defined in that statute as meaning the document containing the articles of agreement between the foreman and subscribers relating to the chitties. The definition given to variola in the Kerala Chitties Act is an inclusive definition. Section 6 of the Chitties Act provides that in every chitty there shall be a variola in duplicate signed by each of the subscribers or by a person authorized in writing by the subscriber in that behalf and such signature shall be attested by at least one witness. Section 7 provides that the variola shall contain the full name and residence of every subscriber, number of tickets or the fraction thereof held by each subscriber, the number of instalments and the amount payable for each ticket at every instalment. Section 8 deals with registration and it is provided therein that the variola with its duplicate shall be filed by the foreman with the Register along with the order sanctioning the starting of the chitty where such sanction is required under Section 3 and that the Registrar shall register and return the variola with an endorsement that the chitty is registered. Section 10 of the Act states that after the vairola is signed by a subscriber o by a person authorized in writing by the subscriber in this behalf, the foreman shall supply a true copy of the variola certified as such by him to such subscriber or person authorized by the subscriber, who shall acknowledge receipt of the same, and the foreman shall file the acknowledgments with the Register within fourteen days fo the first drawing of the chitty.