In Re: Stamp Reference by the Board of Revenue - Court Judgment

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act no ii of 1899 (indian stamp act), section 4 - stamp--settlement--gift of property made by one deed--agreement to secure expenses of donor entered into by another. - cantonments act[c.a. no. 41/2006]. section 346 & cantonment fund (servants rules, 1937, rules 13, 14 & 15: [h.l. gokhale, ag. cj, p.v. hardas, naresh h. patil, r.m. borde & r.m. savant, jj] jurisdiction of school tribunal constituted under maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, (3 of 1978) held, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the maharashtra act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. teacher employed in the school run by cantonment board being covered under rule 2 (f) of the cantonment fund servants rules, 1937 can file appeal under rules 13, 14 and 15 to authorities provided therein against any order imposing any penalties etc. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah. lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. -- maharashtra employees of private schools (conditions of service) regulations act, 1978 [act no. 3/1978]. sections 9 & 2(21): jurisdiction of school tribunal whether a school run by cantonment board is not a recognised school within the meaning of section 2(21)? - held, the act is enacted to regulate recruitments and conditions of employees in certain private schools and provisions of the act shall apply to all private schools in the state whether receiving any grant-in-aid from the state government or not. private school is defined in section 2(2) of the act as a recognised school established or administered by a management other than the government or a local authority. recognised means recognised by director, the divisional board or state board. thus as far as the first part of the definition of being recognised is concerned, it includes, as stated above, four directors, the divisional boards and four state boards. the second part of this definition which comes after the comma refers to any officer authorised by director or by any of such boards. the question to be examined is whether school run by the cantonment board could be said to be one run by any such boards. a private school has to be recognised by the state or the divisional board or by any officer authorised in that behalf. when this phrase namely: recognised by any officer authorised by the director or by any such boards, is included in the latter part of section 2(21), such boards will be of the level of the state board or the divisional board. the boards referred to in the definition of the word recognised means the boards which deal with education at levels other than that of the level at which primary schools are operating. thus for being recognised, the school has to be recognised by the board and therefore, it has to be operating at a higher level i.e., secondary level. section 2(21) of the act defines the term recognised. the last clause therein is by any of such boards. the term such is defined in oxford dictionary as of the kind or degree indicated or implied by the context. therefore, the term such board will have to mean a divisional board of or the level of divisional board or the state board. the divisional board holds the examination and issues certificates after 10th and 12th standard examinations. the state board advises the state government on policy matters, ensures uniform pattern of secondary and higher secondary education, lays down principles for determining syllabi, prescribes text books, etc. the cantonment board does not discharge any of such duties nor is there any other board or body under the cantonments act discharging any such duties. the duties of the cantonment board are laid down in section 62 and amongst others, clause (xiv) lays down the duties of establishing and maintaining or assisting primary schools only. the cantonment board is not required to enter into the area of secondary education. therefore, school run by the cantonment board is a primary school and it is not a school recognised by any such board comparable to the divisional board or the state board. that being the position, it is not possible to accept it to be a recognised school for being a private school under the act. for the reasons state above, the school tribunal constituted under section 8 of the act cannot entertain appeals filed under section 9 by the employees working in schools which are established and administered by the cantonment board. [deolali cantonment board v usha devidas dongre, 1993 mah.lj 74; 1993 lab ic 1858 overruled]. - the deed of gift executed by tribhuwan dat sukul has been endorsed by us as exhibit a, and the 'deed executed by maharaj sumeshwar dat sukul has been marked as exhibit b, and they will be alluded to in the course of this judgment in these terms. 5. briefly stated the case is as follows :tribhuwan dat sukul in consideration of love and affection and the promise to be maintained by his brother, executed a deed of gift of his immovable and movable property. 8. looking broadly to the two documents, we are satisfied that the deed b is one which comes within section 4 of the indian stamp act.george knox, rafiq and piggott, jj.1. on the 15th of may, 1914, two brothers, tribhuwan dat sukul and maharaj sumeshwar dat sukul, executed each of them a document. the deed of gift executed by tribhuwan dat sukul has been endorsed by us as exhibit a, and the 'deed executed by maharaj sumeshwar dat sukul has been marked as exhibit b, and they will be alluded to in the course of this judgment in these terms.2. deed a is said to bear a stamp of rs. 1,125. deed b bears a stamp of rs. 10. when the two documents were taken to the registration office, deed b was impounded, and on its coming before the deputy commissioner, sitapur, that officer came to the conclusion that the stamp required was a stamp of rs. 360. he also considered that penalty of rs. 700 should be paid by maharaj sumeshwar dat. sumeshwar dat appealed from the decision of the deputy commissioner to the board of revenue.3. the board of revenue were unable to come to any conclusion as to what was the right and proper stamp to impose, and referred the matter to this court under section 57 of the indian stamp act.4. we have had both deeds read to us, and we have had the assistance of the learned government advocate in considering the matter. deed b is very inartistically drawn up. the language in which it is expressed is of such a dubious kind that it has not been easy to come to a decision on the question referred.5. briefly stated the case is as follows : tribhuwan dat sukul in consideration of love and affection and the promise to be maintained by his brother, executed a deed of gift of his immovable and movable property. it is this deed which has been stamped with a stamp of rs. 1,125. maharaj sumeshwar dat sukul, as said above, on the same date executed deed b. in that deed he promises that during the life-time of pandit tribhuwan dat he will pay whatever expenses may be required on account of food, conveyance, travelling for pilgrimage, charity, clothing &c.;, provided that tribhuwan dat live permanently in the ancestral house or in the house in which he may with his consent put him up and have no concern with the quarrelsome persons who created disunion between pandit tribhuwan dat and himself.6. there is a further clause which lays down the maximum amount per mensem which tribhuwan dat may expend for charity and railway journeys, &c.; up to this maximum maharaj sumeshwar dat sukul agrees to pay. there is also a clause regarding money 'required for expenses' and how that is to be assessed: no definite sum is given. certain property which is detailed in the deed is hypothecated and the deed says that that property 'will be responsible for the expenses of pandit tribhuwan dat where-ever and to whomsoever it is transferred'. the property scheduled differs, save and except one house, from the property scheduled in deed a.7. we have tried to see whether deed b can come within any of the deeds set out in schedule i of the indian stamp act, but we cannot find any article which exactly covers the deed.8. looking broadly to the two documents, we are satisfied that the deed b is one which comes within section 4 of the indian stamp act. the transaction before the parties may fairly be said to come within the word 'settlement'. the two instruments were intended by the parties to be employed in completing this one transaction and the principal instrument as determined by the parties has been stamped and more than sufficiently stamped.9. deed b has in our opinion been properly stamped and more than sufficiently stamped in accordance with the provisions of section 4 of the act.10. we have not overlooked the fact that in dealing with an act of this kind we have to construe the act in favour of the subject.11. let a copy of this our judgment be sent to the chief controlling revenue authority, i.e., to the board of revenue, as our opinion on the matter referred to us.