[ A. Ramakrishna v. State Govt. Bangalore & Anr., AIR 2012 Karnataka 3]
The case of the petitioner is that he intended to purchase property. The deed of conveyance was executed on 30-9-2008 with the owner of the property one Smt. Kusum Thayal. The petitioner purchased the stamp duty of Rs.10,51,875 and presented the sale deed by using the said stamp duty along with payment of registration charges of Rs.1,23,750.
It was the case of the petitioner that both the amounts, towards registration fee and the stamp duty have been paid by way of Demand Draft. However, due to some litigation and difficulty in the title of the ownership, which the petitioner claims to have noticed subsequently, the sale deed could not be registered. As a result the petitioner requested for withdrawal of the document and also the registration of the sale deed from the Sub-Registrar Office on 23-11-2009 and requested for refund of the entire stamp duty and the registration charges.
Thereafter an impugned Govt. order is passed in exercise of the powers conferred u/s.52-A of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 holding that the petitioner was entitled for refund after deducting 25 paise per rupee on the amount paid towards stamp duty.
The Court observed that there was nothing in Rules 193 and 194 of the Karnataka Registration Rules, 1965 which confers a right on the petitioner to seek refund of the amount of stamp duty paid towards registration. Rule 193(i) of the Karnataka Registration Rules, 1965 states that before an order of registration is passed, if the party makes a request in writing to the Registering Officer seeking to withdraw the document from being registered, then the officer concerned may pass an order to that effect permitting such withdrawal whereupon, one half of the registration fee and all the copying fees in respect of such document can be refunded. Therefore, Rules 193 and 194 of the Karnataka Registration Rules, 1965 do not come to the aid of the petitioner, nor do they clothe him with a right to seek refund of the stamp duty. The relevant provisions which may come to the help of the petitioner was sections 52 and 52-A of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 (i.e., Allowance for stamps not required for use).
It was brought to the notice of the Court that a Govt. order dated 21-2-2009 in exercise of the powers conferred u/s.52A of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 and on the basis of the recommendation made by the 2nd respondent, the State Govt. has specified the amount to be deducted while refunding the stamp duty paid by the concerned person regarding the document presented for registration which has been subsequently withdrawn that can be classified as spoiled or unusable stamp. According to the said Govt. order, if an application seeking refund is made after one year but before the expiry of two years from the date of purchase of the stamp duty, the deduction shall be at 25 paise per rupee.
Neither the rules framed nor the provisions of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 clothe the petitioner with any other right to seek refund of amount in excess of what has been provided as per the Govt. order dated 21-2-2009. Therefore, the present writ petitions field by the petitioner seeking refund of the entire amount of stamp duty paid, cannot be entertained.
