Transfer of shares with occupancy rights can attract stamp duty as a conveyance when substance shows immovable property transfer.

Transfer of shares in a co-operative society, where the instrument also transfers rights to occupy specified premises, is treated as a conveyance under the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 when the real substance of the transaction is transfer of an interest in immovable property. The SC applied the earlier principle that stamp duty depends on the true nature of the transaction, not its form, and that an instrument transferring possession and beneficial enjoyment of premises in substance attracts duty as a conveyance. The transaction was therefore chargeable to stamp duty under Article 25.

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Issues: Whether transfer of shares in a co-operative society, coupled with transfer of rights to occupy specified premises, is chargeable to stamp duty as a conveyance under the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958.

Analysis: The transfer instrument was treated as falling within Article 25 of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958 because the real substance of the transaction was the transfer of an interest in immovable property along with the shares, not a bare transfer of shares. The Court applied the earlier ruling which had already held that such transactions are liable to stamp duty as conveyances where possession and beneficial enjoyment of the premises are transferred in substance through the instrument.

Conclusion: The transfer was held chargeable to stamp duty as a conveyance under the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958.

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