Maharashtra Stamp Act
No: 60 Dated: Jun, 11 1958
THE MAHARASHTRA STAMP ACT
ACT No. LX OF 1958
An Act to consolidate and amend the law relating to stamps and stamp duties in the State of Bombay
Wheres it is expedient to consolidate and amend the law relating to stamps and rates of stamp duties other than those in respect of documents specified in entry 91 of List-I in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India in the State of Bombay; It is hereby enacted in the Ninth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
CHAPTER I
Preliminary
1. Short title, extent and commencement. - (1) This Act may be called the Maharashtra Stamp Act.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Maharashtra.
(3) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct.
2. Definitions. - In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context,-
(a) "association" means any association, exchange, organisation or body of individuals, whether incorporated or not, established for the purpose of regulating and controlling business of the sale or purchase of, or other transaction relating to, any goods or marketable securities;
(b) "banker" means an association, a company or a person who accepts, for the purpose of lending or investment, deposits of money from the public, repayable on demand or otherwise and with drawable by cheque, draft, order or otherwise;
(c) "bond" includes-
(i) any instrument whereby a person obliges himself to pay money to another on condition that obligation shall be void if a specified act is performed, or is not performed, as the case may be;
(ii) any instrument attested by a witness and not payable to order or bearer, whereby, a person obliges himself to pay money to another; and
(iii) any instrument so attested whereby a person, obliges himself to deliver grain or other agricultural produce to another;
Explanation. - Notwithstanding, anything contained in any law for the time being in force, for the purposes of this clause, "attested" in relation to an instrument, means attested by one or more witnesses each of whom has seen the executant sign or affix his mark to the instrument, or has seen some other person sign the instrument in the presence and by the direction of the executant, or has received from the executant a personal acknowledgement of his signature or mark or of the signature of such other person, and each of whom has signed the instrument in the presence of the executant; but it shall not be necessary that more than one of such witnesses shall have been present at the same time, and no particular form of attestation shall be necessary.
(d) "chargeable" means, as applied to an instrument, executed or first executed after the commencement of this Act, chargeable under this Act, and as applied to any other instruments, chargeable under the law in force in the State when such instrument was executed or, where several persons executed the instrument at different times, first executed;
(dd) "Chief Controlling Revenue Authority" means such officer as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf for the whole or any part of the State of Maharashtra;
(e) "clearance list" means a list of transactions relating to contracts required to be submitted to the clearing house of an association in accordance with the rules or bye-laws of the association:
Provided that no instrument shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to be a clearance list unless it contains the following declaration signed by the person dealing in such transaction or on his behalf by a properly constituted attorney, namely:-
"I/We hereby solemnly declare that the above list contains a complete and true statement of my/our transactions including crossed out transactions and transactions required to be submitted to the clearing house in accordance with the rules/bye-laws of the association. I/We further declare that no transaction for which an exemption is claimed under Article 5 or Article 43 in Schedule I to the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958, as the case may be, is omitted."
Explanation. - Transaction for the purpose for this clause shall include both sale and purchase;
(f) "Collector" means the Chief Officer in charge of the revenue administration of a district and includes any officer whom the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf;
and on whom any or all the powers of the Collector under this Act are conferred by the same notification or any other like notification
(g) "Conveyance" includes,-
(i) a conveyance on sale,
(ii) every instrument,
(iii) every decree or final order of any Civil Court,
(iv) every order made by the High Court under section 394 of the Companies Act, 1956 or every order made by the National Company Law Tribunal under sections 230 to 234 of the Companies Act, 2013 or every confirmation issued by the Central Government under sub-section (3) of section 233 of the Companies Act, 2013, in respect of the amalgamation, merger, demerger, arrangement or reconstruction of companies (including subsidiaries of parent company); and every order of the Reserve Bank of India under section 44A of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, in respect of amalgamation or reconstruction of Banking Companies ;
by which property, whether movable or immovable, or any estate or interest in any property is transferred to, or vested in, any other person, inter vivos, and which is not otherwise specifically provided for by Schedule I;
Explanation. - An instrument whereby a co-owner of any property transfers his interest to another co-owner of the property and which is not an instrument of partition, shall, for the purposes of this clause, be deemed to be an instrument by which property is transferred inter vivos;
(ga) "Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Deputy Controller of Stamps" means the officer or officers so designated by the State Government and includes any other officer whom the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint in this behalf;
(h) "duly stamped" as applied to an instrument means that the instrument bears an adhesive or impressed stamp of not less than the proper amount and that such stamp has been affixed or used in accordance with the law for the time being in force in the State;
(i) "executed" and "execution" used with reference to instruments, mean "signed" and "signature";
Explanation. - The terms "signed" and "signature" also include attribution of electronic record as per section 11 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
(j) "Government securities" means a Government security as defined in the Public Debt Act, 1944;
(ja) "immovable property" includes land, benefits to arise out of land, and things attached to the earth, or permanently fastened to anything attached to the earth;
(k) "impressed stamp" includes,-
(i) labels affixed and impressed by the proper officer;
(ii) stamps embossed or engraved on stamped paper;
(iii) impression by franking machine;
(iv) impression by any such machine as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, specify;
(v) receipt of e-payment;
(L) "instrument" includes every document by which any right or liability is, or purports to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded, but does not include a bill of exchange, cheque, promissory note, bill of lading, letter of credit, policy of insurance, transfer of share, debenture, proxy and receipt;
Explanation. - The term "document" also includes any electronic record as defined in clause (t) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
(la) "instrument of gift" includes, where the gift is of any movable or immovable property but has not been made in writing, any instrument recording whether by way of declaration or otherwise the making or acceptance of such oral gift;
(m) "instrument of partition" means any instrument whereby co-owners of any property divide or agree to divide such property in severally and includes-
(i) a final order for effecting a partition passed by any revenue authority or any civil court,
(ii) an award by an arbitration directing a partition, and
(iii) when any partition is effected without executing any such instrument, any instrument or instruments signed by the co-owners and recording, whether by way of declaration of such partition or otherwise, the terms of such partition amongst the co-owners;
(n) "lease" means a lease of immovable or movable (or both) property, and includes also,-
(i) a Patta;
(ii) a Kabulayat, or other undertaking in writing not being a counterpart of a lease to cultivate, occupy or pay or deliver rent for immovable property;
(iii) any instrument by which tolls of any description are let;
(iv) any writing on an application for a lease intended to signify that the application is granted;
(v) a decree or final order of any Civil Court in respect of a lease :
Provided that, where subsequently an instrument of lease is executed in pursuance of such decree or order, the stamp duty, if any, already paid and recovered on such decree or order shall be adjusted towards the total duty leviable on such instrument;
(na) "market value", in relation to any property which is the subject matter of an instrument, means the price which such property would have fetched if sold in open market on the date of execution of such instrument for the consideration stated in the instrument whichever is higher;
(o) "marketable security" means a security of such description as to be capable of being sold in any stock market in India. :
(p) "mortgage deed" includes every instrument whereby, for the purpose of securing money advanced, or to be advanced, by way of loan, or an existing or future debt, or the performance of an engagement, one person transfers or creates to, or in favour of, another; a right over or in respect of specified property;
(pa) "movable property" includes standing timber, growing crops and grass, fruit upon and juice in trees and property of every other description, except immovable property, by which any right or liability is or is purported to be created, transferred, limited, extended, extinguished or recorded;
(q) "paper" includes vellum, parchment or any other material on which an instrument may be written;
(r) "power of attorney" includes any instrument (not chargeable with a fee under the law relating to court-fees for the time being in force) empowering a specified person to act for and in the name of the person executing it and includes an instrument by which a person, not being a person who is a legal practitioner, is authorised to appear on behalf of any party in any proceeding before any court, tribunal or authority;
(ra) "public officer" means a public officer as defined in clause (17) of section 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908;
(s) "Schedule" means a Schedule appended to this Act;
(t) "settlement" means any non-testamentory disposition in writing of movable or immovable property made,-
(i) in consideration of marriage,
(ii) for the purpose of distributing property of the settler among his family or those for whom he desires to provide, or for the purpose of providing for some person dependent on him, or
(iii) for any religious or charitable purpose, and includes an agreement in writing to make such a disposition and where any such disposition has not been made in writing any instrument recording whether by way of declaration of trust or otherwise, the terms of any such disposition;
(u) "soldier" includes any person below the rank of a non-commissioned officer who is enrolled under the Army Act, 1950.