- (1.) The present writ petitions being Civil Misc. Writ Petition Nos. 49085 of 2002 and 51036 of 2002 have been filed against notices dated 12.9.2002, purporting to be under Sections 47A/33 and 40 (b) of the Indian Stamp Act, issued by the Additional Collector (Finance and Revenue), Agra (in short "the Additional Collector"). Since the questions involved in these writ petitions are common, therefore they are being heard and disposed of together.
(2.) One of the significant question arising in these petitions is--"whether the sale deed whereupon the stamp duty was paid by the Petitioner on even more than the values as was fixed by the Collector of the District in furtherance of Rule 4 (1) of the U.P. Stamp (Valuation of Properties) Rules, 1997 (framed under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899, as applicable in U.P.) (here-in-after referred to as "the Valuation Rules") could be examined by the Collector for alleged deficiency of the stamp duty, though no tangible or relevant evidence of the higher market value was possessed by the Collector for formation of a reasonable belief of understatement?"
(3.) The brief facts giving rise to these writ petitions are: Writ Petition No. 49085 of 2002;