Nagpur: Partly allowing the writ petition filed by M/s Sandeep Dwellers Pvt Ltd’s Director Gaurav Agrawal, Justice Sunil B Shukre and Justice Mukulika S Jawalkar, at the Nagpur High Court, have quashed and set aside the impugned order passed by the respondent-Joint District Registrar (Class-I cum Collector of Stamps, Nagpur, on December 18, 2020) with direction to the said officer to refund the stamp duty to the petitioner, paid in excess, within eight weeks of the date of this judgement.
The ruling will have a big impact on the realty sector all over the state, as Registrars had denied concession offered by the state revenue and forest department to many builders for agreements registered between September 1, 2020, and March 3, 2021, said petitioner’s lawyer Kartik Shukul. Ironically, the concession had been offered to boost the reality sector, which suffered massive losses due to Covid-19 pandemic. The August 28, 2020, notification reduced the stamp duty by 2% from September 1 to December 21, 2020, and by 1.5% from January 1 to March 31, 2021.
The High Court has, however, rejected the prayer for grant of interest. The petitioner has filed this petition to challenge the legality and correctness of the impugned order and also claimed refund of the amount of Rs 23.03 lakh which was paid in excess than required by law. He had also claimed interest at the rate of 18 per cent. The HC has pointed out that all three development agreements having been executed between September 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020, would be covered by the first part of concession given in the notification of August 28, 2020 and so would be eligible for reduced stamp duty to the extent of two per cent.
Though these agreements have been registered later but it is the date of their execution and not the registration, which is relevant for calculation of stamp duty and, therefore, these agreements would fall under the first part of the concession given in the notification of August 28, 2020. In the light of this discussion, the Court’s finding is that the impugned order is illegal and would have to be quashed and set aside. Of course, the petitioner has complied with the order of December 18, 2020 but, that would not defeat something which is given to the petitioner as a matter of right.
The notification of August 28, 2020 creates a right in those parties who have executed an instrument of conveyance or agreement of sale in respect of any immovable property between the periods mentioned in the notification. A letter from the State Collector of Stamps, Pune to all Collectors of Stamps in the State, on the same date , directs them to abide by this mandatory notification, which creates indefeasible right in parties to claim the benefits flowing from it.
Advocate Kartik N Shukul appeared for the petitioner. AGP NR Patil represented the State.
