Circle rates under stamp rules are only prima facie guidelines, and enhanced annual rates within a biennial statement were valid.

A circle rate issued under Rule 340-A of the U.P. Stamp Rules is only a prima facie administrative guideline for assessing whether declared value reflects market value, and it does not conclude the inquiry under Section 47-A of the Stamp Act. The requirement to furnish the statement biennially means once in two years, but it does not prevent the Collector, on relevant material showing a rising land-price trend, from indicating a different rate for the succeeding year within the same statement. On that basis, the enhanced rate was not beyond power or arbitrary, and the circular was valid.

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Issues: Whether the Collector, while issuing a biennial statement of circle rates under Rule 340-A of the U.P. Stamp Rules, 1942, had the competence to prescribe an enhanced rate of 20% for the next year and whether the impugned circular was valid.

Analysis: The circle rate fixed under Rule 340-A is only a prima facie guideline to assist the registering authority in testing whether the value stated in an instrument reflects the real market value. It is not a final or binding determination of market value, and it does not foreclose the inquiry contemplated under Section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act. The requirement that the Collector supply the statement biennially means only that it is to be furnished once in two years; it does not prohibit the Collector, if supported by material showing a rising trend in land prices, from indicating a different rate for the succeeding year within the same biennial statement. In the absence of any challenge to the rule itself or to the existence of material before the Collector, the enhancement by 20% could not be treated as beyond power or arbitrary.

Conclusion: The Collector had competence to indicate an enhanced circle rate for the next year, and the impugned circular was valid.

Ratio Decidendi: A circle rate issued under Rule 340-A is only a prima facie administrative guideline for stamp-duty assessment, and the Collector may, on relevant material, prescribe different rates for successive years within a biennial statement without exceeding statutory power.

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