Stamp deficiency objections cannot be reopened after evidence is admitted without timely challenge under the Indian Stamp Act.

Once an instrument is admitted in evidence without a timely objection to stamp sufficiency, Section 36 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 bars reopening that issue in the same proceeding. The duty to impound insufficiently stamped instruments under the West Bengal amendment to Section 33 remains, but it does not override the finality created by Section 36 after admission. Section 38 was not applicable because the objection stage had already passed. The document's admissibility could not be challenged later on stamp grounds, and the attempt to reopen admission and impounding was rejected.

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Issues: Whether a document admitted in evidence without a timely objection to stamp deficiency can later be questioned on the ground that it was not duly stamped, and whether the court could direct impounding after such admission.

Analysis: The instrument was admitted in evidence without objection at the appropriate stage. Section 36 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 operates as a final bar against reopening the question of sufficiency of stamp duty once admission in evidence has taken place, except as provided in Section 61. The West Bengal amendment to Section 33 preserves the duty to impound insufficiently stamped instruments, but that statutory duty does not displace the separate embargo created by Section 36 after admission. Section 38, which governs the procedure after impounding, was not attracted on the facts because the stage for objection had already passed. The prior admission of the document therefore could not be undone in revision or review.

Conclusion: The challenge to the document's admissibility on the ground of insufficient stamp duty was barred, and the application to reopen the issue was rightly rejected.

Final Conclusion: The appeal failed, and the orders refusing to recall the exhibit and to impound the document were sustained.

Ratio Decidendi: Once an instrument has been admitted in evidence without a timely objection to its stamp sufficiency, Section 36 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 prohibits the court from reopening that question in the same proceeding.

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