Stamp Act rules on originals only: a photocopy of an agreement cannot be impounded or validated for stamp deficiency.

The Indian Stamp Act, 1899 applies its impounding and admissibility regime to the original instrument, not to a photocopy tendered as secondary evidence. Sections 33 and 35, read with Section 2(14), operate only when the original document creating or recording rights or liabilities is produced, so a copy cannot be impounded as an instrument or validated for want of proper stamp. Section 37 and Rule 19 of the Madhya Pradesh Stamp Rules, 1942 likewise concern originals bearing an improper description of stamp and do not cure defects in a mere copy. Section 48-B only permits the Collector to call for the original when deficiency appears from a copy.

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Issues: Whether a photocopy of an original agreement, alleged to be insufficiently stamped or stamped with an improper description, can be impounded or admitted in evidence as secondary evidence under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Analysis: The statutory scheme under Sections 33, 35 and 2(14) of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 applies to an original instrument, not to a copy. An instrument, for stamp purposes, means the document by which rights or liabilities are created or recorded, and the power to impound arises only when such instrument is produced before the authority. Section 35 bars admission of an instrument not duly stamped, and the settled law is that this protection cannot be extended to a photocopy offered as secondary evidence of a lost original. Section 37 and Rule 19 of the Madhya Pradesh Stamp Rules, 1942 deal with an original instrument bearing a stamp of sufficient amount but of improper description, and they also do not authorize validation of a mere copy. Section 48-B of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 only enables the Collector to call for the original instrument when deficiency is noticed from a copy and does not permit impounding the copy itself.

Conclusion: A photocopy of the agreement could not be impounded or admitted in secondary evidence under the Stamp Act, and the objection to its admissibility was upheld.

Ratio Decidendi: The impounding and validation provisions of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 apply only to the original instrument, and a copy of an instrument cannot be treated as an instrument for the purpose of curing stamp deficiency or admitting secondary evidence.

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