HARRIS Vs. SUB RAGISTRAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are impugning Exhibits P4 to P6, under which they were asked to pay an amount of Rs. 81,000.00, being the stamp duty at the rate of 13.5%, towards cancellation of a lease deed, which was entered into by them with the lessee. In fact the pleadings of this case would reveal that the lease was originally entered into by a certain M/s. Skymart Sales and Services Ltd. in favour of a certain Sri. Himamudeen and that pending such lease agreement the petitioners purchased the property in question. The petitioners, therefore, stepped into the shoes of the original lessor and when the lease deed was surrendered, they presented it before the Registrar, who, however, impounded the document saying that it was insufficiently stamped and issued the order impugned in this Writ Petition directing the, petitioners to pay an amount of Rs. 81,000.00 as alleged stamp duty. The petitioners challenge these orders as being illegal, unlawful and contrary to the provisions of the Kerala Stamp Act.

(2.) I have heard Sri. N.M. Madhu, the learned counsel for the petitioners and the learned Government Pleader for the respondents.

(3.) The provisions of the Kerala Stamp Act, 1959 ('the Act' for brevity) relating to such transactions have two branchlets. One is the general provision with respect to the release, which is covered by Art. 48 of the Act. The other is a specific provision relating to surrender of lease, which is Art. 54 of the Act. Under Art. 54 of the Act, in the case of a surrender of lease when the duty with which the lease is chargeable does not exceed Rs. 100.00, the stamp duty is the same with which such lease is chargeable and in any other case it is Rs. 100.00. In the case at hand, the lease agreement was entered into by M/s. Skymark Sales and Services Ltd. initially and when the property was purchased by the petitioner he stepped into the shoes of such lessor. When the lease was surrendered, obviously he was obligated to return the amount of security deposit shown in the lease deed to the lessee. This was seen by the authorities to be a release under Art. 48(b) and that duty was charged ad valorem on the security deposit of Rs. 6 lakhs.