Supreme Court of India (Division Bench (DB)- Two Judge)

Appeal (Civil), 2582-2584 of 2016, Judgment Date: Mar 09, 2016

                                                        REPORTABLE


                         IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
                        CIVIL  APPELLATE JURISDICTION


                       CIVIL APPEAL NOS.2582-2584 OF 2016
              (Arising out of S.L.P.(C) Nos.1012-1014 of 2012)


|M/S. ANSAL HOUSING AND CONSTRUCJTION LIMITED                    Appellant(s)         


                                     Versus


|STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH AND OTHERS                              Respondent(s)        

                                   W I T H

                       CIVIL APPEAL NO.2585 OF 2016
               (Arising out of S.L.P.(C) No. 6462 of 2012)


                      CIVIL APPEAL NO.2586 OF 2016
               (Arising out of S.L.P.(C) No. 9673 of 2012)



                              J U D G M E N T

KURIAN, J.

1.    We have heard learned counsel for the parties.

2.    Leave granted.

3.    The short issue raised in these appeals pertains  to  the  stamp  duty
payable by the developer and the allottees under Sections  33/47(A)  of  the
Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
4.    In a  writ  petition  filed  by  the  developer,  in  respect  of  the
bipartite agreement between the State and the developer, the High  Court  by
judgment dated 4th August, 2011 relegated the  developer  to  the  competent
authority.  However, in the writ petitions filed by  the  allottees  of  the
developer, by another judgment dated 16th August, 2011, the High Court  took
the view that even in respect of the tripartite agreement between the  State
on the one hand and the developer and allottees  on  the  other  hand  also,
full stamp duty is payable on the basis that the  arrangement  is  a  lease.
Before us, several contentions are taken, some of which we may  refer  below
:-
1.    Whether the tripartite agreement qua the allottees is a  lease,  is  a
matter to be adjudicated by the competent authority and therefore, the  High
Court was not justified in going to that issue;
2.    The allottees were in any case exempted  from  payment  of  the  stamp
duty.

There are a few other contentions as well.


5.    In our view, bereft of the required materials before the  High  Court,
the Court was not justified in adjudicating the issue at the first  instance
when there is a statutory scheme provided for adjudication  of  such  issues
by the competent authorities concerned.

6.    In that view of the matter, without expressing  any  further  opinion,
we set aside the  judgment  dated  16.8.2011  in  Civil  Miscellaneous  Writ
Petition No. 73277 of 2010 and other connected  matters.   The  parties  are
relegated to the competent authority under  the  Indian  Stamp  Act  in  the
State of Uttar Pradesh for the adjudication of the dispute.  We  direct  the
Authority concerned to issue notice to  the  parties,  hear  them  and  pass
final orders on merits on the dispute within a period  of  six  months  from
today.

7.    As far as Writ Petition 40656 of 2004 filed by the  developer  leading
to the Judgment dated 4.8.2011 is concerned, we  are  informed  that  during
the  pendency  of  the  special  leave  petition  before  this  Court,   the
adjudicating authority has passed an order on 16.1.2015 and  thereafter  the
matter  was  carried  before  the  appellate  authority  and  the  appellate
authority passed an order on 22.4.2015 and the issue is now before the  High
Court.   It  appears  that  the  authorities  have  passed  such  orders  on
different dates  and  therefore,  similar  other  matters  are  consequently
before the High Court.

8.    Therefore, we express no opinion on the legality or otherwise  of  the
orders passed by the competent authorities, since it is for the  parties  to
take up all available contentions before the High Court and it  is  for  the
High Court to pass appropriate orders.

9.    Having regard to the fact that the issue has been pending since  long,
we request the High Court to dispose of the writ petitions expeditiously.

10.   The civil appeals are, accordingly, disposed of.

11.   No order as to costs.



                                                  ........................J.
                                                             (KURIAN JOSEPH)



                                                  ........................J.
                                                     (ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN)

New Delhi,
March 09, 2016






ITEM NO.4               COURT NO.10               SECTION XI

               S U P R E M E  C O U R T  O F  I N D I A
                       RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS

Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C)  No(s).  1012-1014/2012

(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated  04/08/2011 in WC
No. 40656/2004 16/08/2011 in MWP No. 73277/2010 16/08/2011 in MWP No.
56556/2010 passed by the High Court Of Judicature at Allahabad)

M/S ANSAL HOUSING & CONSTRUCTION LTD.              Petitioner(s)

                                VERSUS

STATE OF U.P. & ORS.                               Respondent(s)

(with interim relief and office report)
(For final disposal)

WITH
SLP(C) No. 6462/2012
(With Office Report)

 SLP(C) No. 9673/2012
(With Office Report)

 Date : 09/03/2016 These petitions were called on for hearing today.

CORAM :
         HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE KURIAN JOSEPH
         HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN

For Petitioner(s)
                        Mr. Sachin Datta, Sr.Adv.
                     Ms. Dharitry Phookan,Adv.

                        Mr. Vibhu Tiwari, Adv.
                     Mr. Ravi Prakash Mehrotra,Adv.

For Respondent(s)
                     Mr. Chandra Prakash,Adv.

                     Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal,Adv.

State of U.P.           Mr. S.R. Singh, Sr.Adv.
                        Mr. Sudeep Kumar, adv.
                        Mr. Ravi Prakash Mehrotra, Adv.

                        Mr. Vibhu Tiwari, Adv.
                     Mr. Ravi Prakash Mehrotra,Adv.

                     Mr. Vinay Garg,Adv.

                        Mr. R.R. Rajesh, Adv.
                        For Mr. Brajesh Kumar, Adv.


          UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
                             O R D E R

            Leave granted.
            The civil appeals  are  disposed  of  in  terms  of  the  signed
reportable judgment.
            Pending applications, if any, stand disposed of.


  [RENU DIWAN]                        [SUKHBIR PAUL KAUR]
  COURT MASTER                            A.R.-CUM-P.S.

            (Signed reportable judgment is placed on the file)

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