Order on Return of Sale Deed Stayed

The Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench has stayed the order of a single judge who directed the Tamil Nadu Registration Department to return registered sale deeds relating to a property with a disputed registration value.

MADURAI: The Madras High Court’s Madurai Bench has stayed the order of a single judge who directed the Tamil Nadu Registration Department to return registered sale deeds relating to a property with a disputed registration value. Originally, a Karur resident Rajeshwari had filed a writ petition stating she had purchased two plots of land for which the State Government had fixed a guideline value of `1,000 per square feet in February 2011.

After affixing the stamp duty as per the guideline value and market value, she had presented the sale deed before the  Karur Sub Registrar. The official after registering the sale deed insisted the petitioner to pay a deficit stamp duty without calculating the actual guideline value and market value of the land and without disclosing the sale deed number.

Further the Sub Registrar impound the documents under section 47 A of Indian Stamp Act and referred the documents to the Special Deputy collector (Stamps), Tiruchy for further proceedings. As the documents were not returned, even after a lapse of two years, the petitioner approached the court and obtained an order in favour of her.

The Registrar General-cum-Chief Revenue Controlling Officer of Tamil Nadu challenged the verdict. He submitted that the registering officer has reason to believe that the market value of the property has not been truly set forth in the instrument. Hence the Sub-Registrar was entitled to question the same. There is no provision in the Stamp Act to return a document pending under Section 47(A). Hearing the writ appeal, a bench comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and V M Velumani granted an interim stay and issued notice to the respondent returnable in three weeks.

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