THE BOMBAY STAMP ACT, 1958 - Igrmaharashtra.gov.in

Agreements entered into before 10 th December 1985The Bombay High Court in Padma Nair v. Deputy Collector, Valuation andStamp duty and Another (1994) XXXII M. LJ 497 had held that in that particular vase, bythe agreement of sale no freehold rights have been conveyed to the purchasers; in view ofsection 54 of the Transfer of property Act the agreement of sale by itself did not createany interest in or charge on such property and on the strength of the said agreement thebuyer could not become owner of the property; on the basis of the agreement of sale thebuyer merely gets a right to obtain a sale deed in his favour but the ownership remainswith the seller land therefore, the same is not conveyance. In that case the agreement wasexecuted on 16 th October, 1984, According to stamp Authorities the same attracted theprovisions of Explanation to Article 25 and therefore, was a deemed conveyance and wasliable to be stamped accordingly, According to the Bombay High Court the saidExplanation the agreements executed prior thereto.Stamp duty on Decree Operating as Conveyance1. By 10 th December, 1985 amendment decree of civil court was included in thedefinition o conveyance. The question arose before the Bombay High Court inAppeal No.2245 of 1991 arising from the order in Writ Petition No. 1568 of1984. In the Appeal it was contended by the Government that said amendmentwas merely declaratory and by way of clarification and it is not a newprovision and therefore, will apply to all decrees passed even prior to 10 thDecember, 1985. According to the Government the clarification was neededto be made on this point also in order to decide whether the said provision wasapplicable to decrees passed prior to 10 th December, 1985. this was resisted bythe petitioners in several writ petitions. The Court however, did not agree withthe contentions of the petitioners and came to the conclusion that amendmenttherefore, was applicable to all the pending petitions though the amendmentcame into effect subsequent to the passing of the decree.Amendment not to be retrospective 1997-4 – Bom – C-R-536, ITC v. Statealso see 1994 -2-MH-L-J1261 CRST Hotel v. Asst. Superintendent.(h) “duly stamped” as applied to an instrument means that the instrumentbears an adhesive or impressed stamp of not less than the proper amount andthat such stamp has need affixed or used in accordance with the law for thetime being in force in the state;(i) “executed” and “execution” used with reference to instruments, means“signed” and “signature”;(j) “Government securities” means a Government security as defined inthe Public Dbt. Act 1944;(j) “Government securities” means Government security as defined inthe Public Debt Act, 1944;1 (ja) “immovable property” includes land, benefits to arise out of land,and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attachedto the earth;]