Published on: 31 August 2023 at 10:30 IST
Court: High Court of Delhi
Citation: Splendor Landbase Ltd. v. Aparna Ashram Society (2023)
Honourable High Court of Delhi has opined that Collector of Stamp must respond in reasonable time in order to enable the parties to have some certainty as to the stamp duty payable. It is held that the Collector of Stamps shall usually adjudicate the stamp duty payable and communicate the same to parties within 30 days from the reference under Section 35 of the Stamp Duty Act, 1899 especially in the matters of Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996.
26. In cases where the Court deems it expedient to not take recourse to Section 35 of the Stamp Act and instead send the original of the impounded instrument to the concerned Collector, it shall be open for this Court to issue time bound directions to the concerned Collector to perform the adjudicatory functions in terms of the relevant provisions of the Stamp Act.
29. As such, it would be apposite for this Court to issue time bound directions to the concerned Collector (Stamps), to ensure that the statutory mandate under Section 11(13) of the Act is not defeated. Similar directions have been issued by different High Courts in a large number of proceedings under Section 11 of the Act.
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
