Stamp duty on sale deed excludes mortgage-related sums where property is not sold subject to the charge.

For ad valorem stamp duty on a sale deed, section 24 of the Indian Stamp Act includes unpaid mortgage money or money charged with interest only where the property is sold subject to the mortgage or encumbrance. Applying strict construction of this taxing provision, the Court treated the expressed consideration of Rs. 1,00,000 as the only chargeable amount because the larger sums were linked to other items or had already been paid to the bank before execution, and the remaining Rs. 11,000 was undertaken by the vendors themselves rather than by a sale subject to that charge. The additional mortgage-related amounts were therefore excluded from stamp duty.

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Issues: Whether, for the purpose of ad valorem stamp duty on the sale deed, the consideration was confined to Rs. 1,00,000 or whether the mortgage-related amounts of Rs. 11,000, Rs. 5,55,000, or Rs. 10,00,000 were also to be included under section 24 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Analysis: Section 24 deems unpaid mortgage money or money charged, together with interest, to form part of the consideration only where the property is sold subject to the mortgage or encumbrance. The Explanation qualifies a sale of property subject to mortgage, and the Stamp Act, being a taxing statute, must be construed strictly. On the facts, the deed expressed Rs. 1,00,000 as consideration for the immovable property conveyed, while the larger sums related to other items or had already been paid to the bank before execution of the deed. The remaining Rs. 11,000 was undertaken by the vendors themselves and the property was not sold subject to that charge.

Conclusion: The consideration chargeable with stamp duty was only Rs. 1,00,000, and the additional mortgage-related sums were not includible.

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