Court No. - 18
Case :- WRIT - C No. - 19098 of 2021 Petitioner :- M/S. Jagdish Singh Ent Udyog Respondent :- State Of U.P. And 2 Others Counsel for Petitioner :- Mahendra Singh Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.
Hon'ble Ajay Bhanot,J.
Heard Sri Mahendra Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner and learned Standing Counsel for the State.
The instrument which was liable to be stamped grants rights to the petitioner to excavate the soil in the parcel of land, which is comprised in the agreement. Clause 1 and 2 of the agreement authorized the petitioner to dig soil upto 6 feet depth in the parcel of land described in the agreement. The agreement also authorized the petitioner to excavate the soil and run the brick kiln. While determining the stamp liability, the authorities below found that the essence of the agreement was in the nature of sale of the soil, which was part of the land comprised in the agreement.
The valuation of the excavated soil has been made solely on the footing of the circle rates notified by the Collector (Stamp) in regard to the sale of soil in a brick kiln in the impugned order dated 27.01.2020.
The learned appellate authority/Deputy Commissioner (Stamp), Gorakhpur Region, Gorakhpur/respondent No.3 in its impugned order dated 05.02.2021 agreed with the aforesaid findings and method of valuation made by the respondent No.2/Assistant Commissioner (Stamp)/Collector (Stamp), Kushinagar, and affirmed the order of the respondent No.2.
I see merit in the submissions of Sri Shiv Mahendra Singh, learned counsel for the petitioner that the learned courts below misdirected themselves in law by using the circle rate as the sole basis for determining the market value of the excavated soil. Consequently, the aforesaid method of determining the value of the excavated soil is held to be illegal. The learned courts below are under an obligation of law to undertake an independent evaluation to determine the market value of the excavated soil after factoring in all relevant considerations.
In the wake of preceding discussion, the impugned orders dated 27.01.2020 passed by the respondent No.2/Assistant Commissioner (Stamp)/Collector (Stamp), Kushinagar and the order dated 05.02.2021 passed by the learned appellate authority/Deputy Commissioner (Stamp), Gorakhpur Region, Gorakhpur/respondent No.3 are liable to be set aside and are set aside.
The matter is remitted to the learned court below/respondent No.2/Assistant Commissioner (Stamp)/Collector (Stamp), Kushinagar to undertake a fresh exercise in determining the stamp liability of the petitioner, consistent with the observations made in this judgement and in accordance with law.
The petitioner is directed to cooperate in the proceedings before the learned court below/respondent No.2/Assistant Commissioner (Stamp)/Collector (Stamp), Kushinagar.
The writ petition is allowed to the extent indicated above.
Order Date :- 12.8.2021 Nadeem Ahmad