JAYAM EDUCATIONAL Vs. DISTRICT REGISTRAR-CUM-COLLECTOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) ON consent, the Writ Petition is taken up for final hearing.

(2.) THE Writ Petition is filed challenging the proceedings of the Third Respondent issued under Memo No.1714/09/A1, dated 20.1.2009 in and under which the Petitioner has demanded a sum of Rs.5,13,000/- towards deficit Stamp duty and penalty, failing which to invoke the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act for recovery of the same and for consequential reliefs.

(3.) PER contra, the learned Additional Government Pleader would argue that the impugned Recovery proceedings under Revenue Recovery Act, is initiated only after duly passing the final order of the First Respondent and after duly intimating the same to the Petitioner and after giving opportunity to the Petitioner to comply with the demand. However, the learned Additional Government Pleader is not able to finish the particulars regarding the date on which it is communicated and no document is produced on the side of the Respondents to prove the impugned final order passed by the District Collector is duly communicated and received by the Petitioner. On such failure of the Respondents, this Court is constrained to accept the Petitioner-s contention that the order of the District Collector which is the basis for the demand impugned herein is not at all conveyed to the Petitioner. If that is so, the Petitioner has no occasion to challenge it by way of statutory Appeal and the Respondents cannot be permitted to say that the Writ Petition is not maintainable without his exhausting the statutory Appeal remedy against the order of the District Collector. On the other hand, this Court finds much force in the contention raised on the side of the Petitioner that unless or otherwise the copies of the order of First Respondent is served on the Petitioner and until and unless the liability of the Petitioner to pay deficit Stamp duty and penalty is fixed and quantified in the order so passed the question of invoking the provisions of the Revenue Recovery Act for the recovery of the same does not arise herein.