SABANAYAGAM Vs. BALASUBRAMANIAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE Civil Revision Petitions are filed by the plaintiff in the suit as against the order permitting the third defendant, respondent herein to file the document dated 25. 2. 1997 which is unstamped and unregistered to be admitted in evidence.

(2.) THE third defendant filed the applications under Order 18 Rule 17 read with Section 151 CPC to recall P. W. 1 to mark the disputed voucher dated 25. 2. 1997 accepting the same as a document and to proceed with the suit. According to the third defendant/respondent, the plaintiff has agreed that already a oral partition had took place and he has released his rights in the suit property and to vouch the same, he has executed an agreement in the nature of a voucher which has been written on a Ten Rupees stamp paper and the same does not require any stamp duty or registration as no transfer of any right has took place as per the recitals of the said voucher. It is also the case of the respondent that the plaintiff has admitted his signature in the said document and he cannot have any legal objection in marking the same as a document in the evidence.

(3.) LEARNED counsel for the revision petitioner contended that even the nomenclature of the document as voucher is accepted, as seen from the contents of the document it is seen that the document has to be properly stamped and registered and in the absence of the same the same is inadmissible in evidence for any purpose in view of the bar in Section 35 of the Stamp Act and Section 49 of the Registration Act. LEARNED counsel also relied on the judgment of this court rendered in CRP (PD) No:1526 of 2006 in support of his contention where this court after classifying the various judgments of the High courts as well as the Apex Court, held that no document shall be admitted in evidence if it is not properly stamped, and if already not stamped, then stamp duty should be paid with penalty as prescribed by the authority and thereafter admit the document in evidence, whether it is for collateral purpose or otherwise, which could be decided at the later stage while hearing the case.