Court Orders Registration of Family Settlement Deed, Excludes Delays in Stamp Duty Adjudication.
03 October 2024
Property Law >> Personal Law | Partition Related Issue >> Property & Real Estate
In Purnima Bhanuprasad Gohil (Earlier known as Purnima Kumar) v/s State of Maharashtra, Through the office of the Government Pleader, High Court, Mumbai & Others., the petitioner challenged the refusal of registration of a "Family Partition of Assets Settlement Deed" executed on 20th December 2011, based on the claim that it was presented for registration after the 4-month period prescribed under Section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908. The dispute stemmed from a matrimonial settlement, where the petitioner and her husband agreed to transfer two flats to the petitioner and their son. The family court passed a divorce decree in terms of the settlement deed on 17th February 2012, and the petitioner applied for stamp duty adjudication on 6th June 2012. After paying the stamp duty, the document was submitted for registration on 16th November 2012.
The authorities refused registration, arguing that the deed was lodged after the 4-month deadline. The petitioner, however, contended that time spent by the stamp authorities in adjudicating stamp duty should be excluded from the 4-month calculation. The court agreed, citing a precedent from a previous case (Kirti Jagdish Mulani) and concluded that the period from 20th December 2011 to 17th February 2012, as well as from 6th June 2012 to 13th September 2012, should be excluded in determining whether the document was lodged within the prescribed period. The court ordered the registration of the document within 12 weeks.