SHEKHAR B.SARAF,J. - (1.) In the present writ petition, three brothers who are co-lessees in a property situated at Bidhannagar have come up before this court against the valuation carried out by the Additional District Sub-Registrar, North 24 Parganas (hereinafter referred to as the 'ADSR') on December 18, 2014. They also challenged an order passed by the ADSR on January 5, 2015.
(2.) The case of the writ petitioners is that two of the writ petitioners being the writ petitioner nos. 1 and 2 desire to gift their rights and interests in the lease-hold property to their brother who is the third writ petitioner. They submit that permission for the same was granted by the Urban Development Department, Government of West Bengal by a letter dated October 28, 2014. The same is delineated below: - "This office received application dated 04.08.2014 and its enclosures submitted by Smt. Pran Krishna Dey and Shri Kallol Kumar Dey, the mutated Co-lessee of Plot No. DA-85, Sector-I, Salt Lake, Kolkata- 700064 whereby remission was sought by the mutated Co-lessee for renouncing their ? ... "rd ( each) share of the property (both the plot and building) to their brother Sri Gautam Dey by way of DEED of GIFT. After careful consideration of the matter, the permission is hereby granted thus enabling to Sri Pran Krishna Dey and Shri Kallol Kumar Dey mutated Co-lessee of the plot for executing DEED of GIFT in favour of their brother Shri Gautam Dey. The DEED of GIFT should be executed and registered in the office of the Additional Dist. Sub-Registrar, Bidhannagar, Bikash Bhavan, Salt Lakt, Kolkata - 700091 as per the enclosed proforma within ninety (90) days from the date of issue of this order. After registration of the deed a certified copy of the same should be submitted to this officer by the DONEE at the earliest for updating Government records."
(3.) Subsequent to such permission they submitted the deed of gift for valuation on November 19, 2014 wherein the valuation was done computing the stamp duty payable for a sum of Rs. 90,322/- under Schedule IA, Article 33 (i) of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899. However, when they went to submit the deed to the Registrar Office for execution on December 18, 2014, the ADSR did a U-turn and computed the stamp duty at Rs. 12,57,206/- under Schedule I A, Article 63 of the Stamp Act. The increase in the stamp duty was on the basis that the deed of gift was nothing but an assignment that would incur the stamp duty payable for a Conveyance.;