MUMBAI: In a setback to the state’s stamps department and relief to a builder, the Bombay high court had recently held that the collector of stamps had no power under the Maharashtra Stamp Act to revise the stamp duty after it was already levied once and paid. The HC quashed and set aside a show cause notice issued in February to the builder for attachment of his properties over default in payment after repeated demand notices to pay an alleged outstanding of more than Rs 1 crore.
“In the scheme of the enactment, once the collector has passed an order i.e., he certifies an endorsement on the document depicting payment of full duty, then adjudication becomes effective and final and it is not open for him to reopen the said adjudication,” Justice Bharati Dangre had held.
