Published on: 14 July 2023 at 01:00 IST
Court: Supreme Court
Citation: Himalaya House Co. Ltd. v. Chief Controlling Revenue Authority (1972)
Honourable Supreme Court of India has held that Section 27 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 does not allows for the Department of Revenue to evaluate the terms and conditions of the agreements of the instruments to ascertain the true consideration price of the underlying asset. It is specifically held that No provision in the Stamp Act empowers the Revenue to make an independent inquiry of the value of the property conveyed for determining the duty chargeable.
11. It was urged that in view of Section 27 of the Stamp Act, it was permissible for the Revenue to look into the terms and conditions of the agreements entered into by Uttamchand with the various persons to whom he had assigned flats, offices and shops, particularly in view of the fact that the impounded document makes reference to those agreement. We are not able to accept that contention. Section 27 prescribes that “The consideration (if any) and all other facts and circumstances affecting the chargeability of any instrument with duty, or the amount of the duty with which it is chargeable shall be fully and truly set forth therein”.
It is true that in view of this provision, the parties to a document are required to set forth in the document fully and truly the consideration (if any) and all other facts and circumstances affecting the chargeability of that document with the duty or the amount of the duty with which it is chargeable. But a failure to comply with the requirements of that section is merely punishable under Section 64 of the Stamp Act. No provision in the Stamp Act empowers the Revenue to make an independent inquiry of the value of the property conveyed for determining the duty chargeable. Article 23 is the article that governs the charging of stamp duty on “conveyance”. That article to the extent relevant for our present purpose reads
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
