High Court for the States of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana: The Single Judge Bench of the High Court allowed a writ petition stating that stamp duty is to be paid on the sale consideration and not the market value of the property.
The petitioners had bought a plot of land marked as Lot No. 1 in an auction. They also purchased machinery and plant in the same auction which were marked as Lot No. 2. The petitioner was the successful bidder for the plant and machinery of the company, M/s. Garvee Granites Limited (in liquidation) also for the sale price of Rs.1,00,10,944 and it was confirmed by the orders of the Court. At the time of the execution of sale deed, the stamp duty for the entire sale consideration was directed to be paid. When petitioners clarified to the respondents that the sale deed was only for Lot No. 1, they kept the document pending and directed the petitioners to pay the stamp duty on the entire sale consideration. The Court had previously directed the document to be processed on the condition of payment of the due amount by the petitioner.
The main issue that was considered in this case was whether the demand of stamp duty for Lot No. 2, in the facts and circumstances of the case, is valid or not. The Court relied on multiple cases to allow the petition. It stated that for an auction conducted by the Court, the market value of the property need not be determined separately. There is no malfeasance that can be attributed to the set value of the property if it has been fixed by the State Authorities. The Court also directed the respondents to refund the excess amount paid to them by the petitioners. [M/s Toshniwal Granites Private Limited v. The Sub-Registrar, Choutuppal, Nalgonda, 2017 SCC OnLine Hyd 235, decided on 12.07.2017]
