- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) These appeals are directed against the final judgment and order dated 19.06.2009 passed by the High Court of Karnataka at Bangalore in Writ Appeal Nos. 1023, 1324 and 1325 of 2009 whereby the Division Bench of the High Court dismissed the appeals on the ground of delay as well as on merits.
(3.) Brief facts : (a) Respondents herein are the members of Kendriya Upadhyayara Sangha (R) (in short 'the Sangha'), Bangalore South Taluk, registered under the Karnataka Societies Registration Act, 1960. The Sangha was granted certain land at Jakkasandra Village, South Taluk by the State of Karnataka in order to provide house sites to its members. The sole object of the Sangha is charitable and to protect the interest of its members and not to form the sites and allot to its members with a profit motive. (b) According to the appellant-State, the Sangha has allotted residential sites to its members including the respondents herein by executing Lease- cum-Sale Agreements in their favour after receiving the full sale consideration. The said agreements were registered in the office of sub- Registrar, Bangalore South after paying the required stamp duty. (c) Under the above said Lease-cum-Sale Agreements, the lease was for a period of 10 years and after completion of the said period, respondents herein approached the Sangha and requested them to execute the Absolute Sale Deeds in their favour in respect of their sites. The Sangha agreed to execute the same and the Absolute Sale Deeds were presented for registration before the sub-Registrar, Bommanahalli. The sub-Registrar, while registering the sale deeds, has collected the stamp duty on the market value prevailing on that day of execution of the same after adjusting the stamp duty paid on Lease-cum-Sale Agreements. After registration of the documents of sale, the respondents herein approached the High Court by filing writ petitions seeking refund of stamp duty paid on the absolute Sale Deeds. (d) Pursuant to the writ petitions filed by the respondents, the State Government filed a detailed statement of objections and contended that the Sangha is registered under the Registration Act, hence, the Sangha has no right to form the sites and allot the same to its members and, there is no exemption under the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 (hereinafter referred to as "the Act") for any Lease-cum-Sale Agreement executed by the Sangha. Under the Act, only a site allotted by a House Building Co-operative Society can claim exemption. It is the claim of the State that the authorities have rightly collected the stamp duty on the sale deed treating it as a principal document. (e) Learned single Judge, by order dated 11.12.2007, in the writ petitions being Nos. 16777, 19358 and 19359 of 2005 filed by respondent Nos.1-3 herein held that the stamp duty collected by the authorities on Lease-cum-Sale Agreement falls under Article 5(e)(i) of the Schedule to the Act, therefore, it is a sale agreement with possession, hence, the stamp duty paid is as per the provisions of the Act. Therefore, when the documents are placed for registration as a sale deed, they have to pay the stamp duty of the property on the market value as on that day of execution of the sale deed but they are entitled to claim deduction of the amount which they have already paid on the Lease-cum-Sale Agreement. However, the learned single Judge further held that, (a) the petitioners therein are not liable to pay stamp duty on the amount shown as consideration in the absolute sale deeds; and (b) they are entitled to refund of the amount imposed and collected as stamp duty on the absolute sale deeds. (f) Aggrieved by the said directions, the State filed appeals being W.A. Nos. 1023, 1324 & 1325 of 2009 before the Division Bench of the High Court. It was contended before the Division Bench that the finding given by the learned single Judge in the impugned order that in view of the provisions of Article 5(e)(i) of the Schedule to the Act, when the stamp duty and the registration fee had been collected on the Lease-cum-Sale instrument treating it as the possession of the property which has been handed over at the time of executing Lease-cum-Sale Deed, the question of collecting the stamp duty and registration charges on the absolute deeds after the expiry of the Lease-cum-Sale Agreement is only a supplement and could not arise. (g) The Division Bench, by impugned order dated 19.06.2009, dismissed the writ appeals filed by the State both on the ground of delay as well as on merits. (h) Against the said order, the State has filed the present appeals by way of special leave petitions. ;