Hereditary shebait rights as immovable property require registration, while unstamped documents remain inadmissible in evidence.

The hereditary office of Shebait, including the right to officiate and worship by turn in a Hindu temple, is treated as immovable property because office, duty, personal interest and control over temple property are blended in it. A gift of such an interest therefore requires a registered instrument; an unregistered document conveying it is inadmissible in evidence. On the stamp objection, a document not duly stamped cannot be admitted unless the statutory duty and penalty are first dealt with in accordance with law, and merely marking it subject to objection does not finally decide the issue under the Stamp Act.

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Issues: Whether the hereditary office of Shebait, together with the right to worship by turn, is immovable property so that a gift thereof can be made only by a registered instrument and whether the document in question was admissible in evidence in view of the stamp objection.

Analysis: The right to officiate by turn in a Hindu temple was treated as part of the hereditary office of Shebait, in which the elements of office, duty, personal interest and control over temple property are blended together. The long line of Hindu law texts and judicial authority treated hereditary office of Shebait as immovable property, and the definitions in the registration and general law statutes supported that understanding. On the stamp objection, a document not duly stamped could not be admitted unless the statutory duty and penalty were dealt with in accordance with law, and a mere tentative marking of the document subject to objection did not amount to a judicial decision attracting finality under the Stamp Act.

Conclusion: The document conveyed immovable property and, being unregistered, was inadmissible in evidence. The plaintiff was not entitled to the relief claimed.

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