TMI Blog1991 (1) TMI 441X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... gage Deeds were executed some time in the year 1975, 1977 and 1978. After so executing the Mortgage Deeds, the petitioners were required by the Head of the Department to have their Mortgage Deeds registered in Madras. Therefore, they had to go to Madras by spending a lot of money to have their Mortgage Deeds registered there. 4. It is their contention that in Tamil Nadu the employees of the State Government as well as the Central Government were exempted from paying stamp duty on such documents. They also contend that such facility of exempting them from paying stamp duty has also been extended throughout the Country except Kerala and Jammu Kashmir, by the Official Memorandum dated 31-5-1978 issued by Ministry of Works and Housing, New Delhi, a copy of which is produced as Annexure-B. 5. However, on January, 31, 1985 the petitioners received the orders (Annexures H1 to H8) issued by the Special Deputy Commissioner for Detection of Under valuation of Stamps, Bangalore, requiring them to pay deficit stamp duty so as to enable them to have the Mortgage Deeds registered. Aggrieved by the said orders, they approached the Minister concerned in the Karnataka State requesting him to ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... Memorandum, Annexure-B, the concession was available during these years and it came to be withdrawn only in the year 1979. 7. As against the contention urged for the petitioners, the stand taken by the State Government is that it is true that earlier the exemption from payment of stamp duty was granted at the instance of the Government of. India. But, however, for the reasons best known to the State Government the said concession came to be withdrawn by the Amendment issued in the year 1979. Section 46A of the Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 which is relevant for the purpose of appreciating the contention is extracted below:- 46A:- Recovery of stamp duty not levied or short levied - 1. Where any instrument chargeable with duty has not been duly stamped, the Chief Controlling Revenue Authority or any other officer authorised by the State Government (hereinafter referred to as the authorised officer) may, within (five years) from the date of commencement of the Karnataka Stamp (Amendment) Act, 1980 or the date on which the duty became payable whichever is later, serve notice on the person by whom the duty was payable requiring him to show cause why the proper duty or the amount ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... le earlier to the persons like petitioners for availing exemption was put an end to by the Amendment issued by the State of Karnataka by the Notification referred to above on 3-12-1979. The contention taken on behalf of the State is that the Amendment amending Section 46A came to be issued after following the procedure set forth under the Act and after affording an opportunity to the persons who may be affected. The Official Memorandum referred to and relied on by the petitioners has no statutory force and hence is not binding on the second respondent, On the other hand, it is contended that the second respondent is bound to act according to the legislation enacted by the State of Karnataka. The further contention of the respondents is that the stand taken by the petitioners that, the Official Memorandum relied upon by them having been repealed, their rights are affected, cannot be sustained and hence the contentions taken by the petitioners are liable to be rejected -because the petitioners did not have any such vested right to seek exemption from payment of stamp duty as it is left to the wisdom of the Legislature - State and in the instant case the Legislature - State of Karnata ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... be seen to be the path to judicial wisdom and institutional prestige and stability. The Court must always remember that legislation is directed to practical problems, that the economic mechanism is highly sensitive and complex, that many problems are singular and contingent, that laws are not abstract propositions and do not relate to abstract units and are not to be measured by abstract symmetry that exact wisdom and nice adoption of remedy are not always possible and that judgment is largely a prophecy based on meagre and uninterpreted experience. Every legislation particularly in economic matters is essentially empiric and it is based on experimentation or what one may call trial and error method and therefore it cannot provide for all possible situations or anticipate all possible abuses. There may be crudities and inequities in complicated experimental economic legislation but on that account alone it cannot be struck down as invalid. The Courts cannot as pointed out by the United State Supreme Court in Secy. of Agriculture v. Central Raig. Refining Co., (1950) 94 Led. 381, be converted into tribunals for relief from such crudities and inequities. There may even be po ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... tances, I am of the view that the contentions of the petitioners to the contrary are liable to be rejected. Consequently, the Writ Petitions are also liable to be rejected. 9. One more aspect to be considered here is that the petitioners have referred to the concession available in the State of Tamil Nadu. They made an attempt to establish discrimination. It is necessary for me to mention here that the Office of the Sub-Registrar, Madras, has clearly indicated that the Union of India was aware that if the petitioners were to get their Mortgage Deeds registered in the State of Karnataka, they would have to pay proper stamp duty and for that reason only the petitioners were directed to register the documents at Madras where registration fee was exempted. In this behalf, Section 19 of the Act entitles the State of Karnataka to demand proper stamp duty from persons who have registered their documents outside the State but the same are subsequently enforced within the State of Karnataka and therefore the procedure initiated under Section 46A of the Act, by the respondents is in consonance with the said provisions of the Act. Thus the submission of the petitioners to the contrary cann ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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