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G.M. Shahul Hameed vs. Jayanthi R. Hegde

Not available · 2024 INSC 493Decided 9 Jul 2024
Not available
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Pankaj Mithal

Background

The dispute arose from competing sale transactions over the same property: the respondent's husband sold it to her using a General Power of Attorney (GPA) that was allegedly executed by one Praveen Shetty, while the appellant separately bought the same property directly from Praveen Shetty. During the respondent's civil suit, the GPA was tendered in evidence and marked as an exhibit while the appellant's counsel was absent, without anyone raising an objection that it was insufficiently stamped (it bore only Rs. 100 stamp paper instead of duty based on market value). The appellant later moved applications asking the trial court to impound the document and recall its admission, which the trial court allowed but the Karnataka High Court reversed, holding that once a document is marked as an exhibit, its admissibility cannot be revisited.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that a court has an independent statutory duty under Sections 33 and 34 of the Karnataka Stamp Act to examine whether a document is duly stamped before admitting it, and that this duty exists irrespective of whether any party objects. Because the trial court judge in this case had merely marked the GPA as an exhibit mechanically, without ever applying his mind to whether it was sufficiently stamped, there was no true "judicial determination" of admissibility, so the finality rule under Section 35 (barring re-examination of admitted documents) never came into play. The Court held the trial court's later order recalling the admission and impounding the document was a valid exercise of its inherent power under Section 151 CPC to prevent abuse of process, restored the trial court's order, and set aside the High Court's judgment.

Lesson Learnt

Simply marking a document as an exhibit without objection does not "cure" a stamp-duty defect: a court retains the power (and duty) to revisit and correct an admission that was made without genuine judicial application of mind to whether the document was properly stamped.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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