SURENDRA RAJAK Vs. SHAHJAHAN BEGUM

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner in the instant writ petition is challenging the order dtd. 25/4/2017 (Annexure-P-3),passed in Civil Suit No. 97-A/16 by Additional Civil Judge, Class-I to the Court of First Civil Judge, Class-1, Rewa (M.P.), whereby, the agreement to sale has been refused to be exhibited.

(2.) The case of the petitioner/plaintiff is that the respondent No. 1/defendant had executed an agreement to sale with respect to suit property in favour of the petitioner/plaintiff on 30/12/1999 (Annexure P-1). The respondent No. 1/defendant sold the suit property to defendant No. 2, therefore, the petitioner-/plaintiff filed a civil suit for declaration of said sale deed dtd. 29/8/2011 as null and void. During the course of evidence of the plaintiff, the petitioner/plaintiff prayed to exhibit the agreement to sale dtd. 30/12/1999 which has been refused by the trial Court on the ground that the agreement to sale is insufficiently stamped and is not a registered document, therefore, the petitioner in the instant writ petition. This Court while issuing notice to the respondents on 12/7/2017, stayed the further proceedings of the trial Court and the said order remains in operation till date. The notices are served on the respondents, however, no one appears on their behalf.

(3.) Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner/plaintiff submits that the learned trial Court has committed an error while not directing impounding of the said document. According to him, if there was a violation of the provision of Sec. 17 of the Indian Registration Act, 1908, the appropriate recourse available to the learned trial Court was to direct for impounding of the said document in terms of the Sec. 35 of the Indian Stamps Act, 1899. He places reliance on a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the matter of Avinas Kumar Chouhan V/s Vijay Krishna Mishra 2009 to SCC 532, Omprakash V/s Laxmi Narayan and others 2014 1 SCC 618 and the decision of this Court in the matter of Satya Narayan V/s Ram Singh 2007 (3) M.P.L.J. 384 and Gajanand Awasthi Vs. Shareef Khan (2008) 2 MPWN 63 and submits that the order passed by the trial Court should be set aside with further direction to pass appropriate order in terms of Sec. 35 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.