State of Westbengal and anr. Vs. Sati Enclaves Pvt. Ltd, and ors. - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
the court : a division bench of this court by order dated 26th september, 2008 referred the following question to the honble chief justice for the purpose of constitution of a larger bench : whether the provisions contained in section 47a of the indian stamp (west bengal amendment) act read with rule 3 of the west bengal stamp (prevention of under-valuation of instruments) rules 2001 are applicable to an instrument executed pursuant to an order of sale passed by a civil court in a suit for partition which is conducted by a receiver appointed by the civil court, by auction, after publication in newspapers. the said question has been answered in negative by the special bench vide order dated 13th may, 2010 subject to the conditions, a) there must be wide publicity of the proposed sale and particularly, there shall be publication of advertisement in at least one newspaper having wide circulation in the concerned city/town/district; b) the purchaser of the property must not be connected with or related to the authority/officer conducting the sale. at paragraph 27.4 of the judgment of the special bench, the special bench has also made the following observation :- 27.4. in case the registering authority has any material to doubt the sanctity of the open market sale held by the court, it is open to the registering officer to move the court with a proper application pointing out such materials for reviewing the order regarding determination of the price. mr. sarkar, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the appellant state submits that against the order of the special bench his client has already preferred a special leave petition before the supreme court but in that proceeding no stay has been granted by the supreme court. in view of such fact, we dispose of the appeal by directing the registrar of assurances, kolkata to take into consideration the aforesaid conditions indicated in the judgment of the special bench and to act accordingly. this registration, it is needless to mention, will abide by the decision of the pending special leave petition in the supreme court. the respondent is at liberty to satisfy the registrar that the aforesaid conditions have been satisfied in the fact of the present case. let the decision be taken within three weeks from the date of communication of this order. urgent photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties by tuesday (5.10.10) subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.

Judgment:
The Court : A Division Bench of this Court by order dated 26th September, 2008 referred the following question to the Honble Chief Justice for the purpose of constitution of a larger Bench : Whether the provisions contained in Section 47A of the Indian Stamp (West Bengal Amendment) Act read with Rule 3 of the West Bengal Stamp (Prevention of Under-valuation of Instruments) Rules 2001 are applicable to an instrument executed pursuant to an order of sale passed by a Civil Court in a suit for partition which is conducted by a Receiver appointed by the Civil Court, by auction, after publication in newspapers.

The said question has been answered in negative by the Special Bench vide order dated 13th May, 2010 subject to the conditions, a) there must be wide publicity of the proposed sale and particularly, there shall be publication of advertisement in at least one newspaper having wide circulation in the concerned city/town/district; b) the purchaser of the property must not be connected with or related to the authority/officer conducting the sale. At paragraph 27.4 of the judgment of the Special Bench, the Special Bench has also made the following observation :- 27.4. In case the registering authority has any material to doubt the sanctity of the open market sale held by the Court, it is open to the registering officer to move the court with a proper application pointing out such materials for reviewing the order regarding determination of the price.

Mr. Sarkar, learned Advocate appearing on behalf of the appellant State submits that against the order of the Special Bench his client has already preferred a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court but in that proceeding no stay has been granted by the Supreme Court. In view of such fact, we dispose of the appeal by directing the Registrar of Assurances, Kolkata to take into consideration the aforesaid conditions indicated in the judgment of the Special Bench and to act accordingly.

This registration, it is needless to mention, will abide by the decision of the pending Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court. The respondent is at liberty to satisfy the Registrar that the aforesaid conditions have been satisfied in the fact of the present case. Let the decision be taken within three weeks from the date of communication of this order.

Urgent Photostat certified copy of this order, if applied for, be supplied to the parties by Tuesday (5.10.10) subject to compliance with all requisite formalities.