Specialised stamp duty adjudication must be left to the competent authority when factual materials are incomplete.

Where a statute creates a specialised mechanism for determining stamp duty liability, the High Court should not decide the issue at the first instance without the necessary factual foundation. The dispute concerned stamp duty on agreements involving a developer and allottees, including whether the transaction amounted to a lease. Because the material before the High Court was insufficient and the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 provided for adjudication by the competent authority, the matter was left to that statutory forum. The impugned judgment was set aside and the parties were remitted for notice, hearing, and decision on merits within the time fixed.

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Issues: Whether the High Court was justified in deciding the stamp duty dispute at the first instance instead of leaving the matter to the competent authority under the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.

Analysis: The dispute concerned the stamp duty payable on agreements involving the developer and allottees. The Court held that, in the absence of the requisite materials before the High Court and in view of the statutory mechanism for adjudication under the Stamp Act, the issue ought first to have been examined by the competent authority. The High Court was therefore not justified in deciding whether the transaction amounted to a lease. The Court set aside the impugned judgment and remitted the parties to the competent authority for notice, hearing, and decision on merits within a stipulated time.

Conclusion: The issue was answered in favour of the appellants, and the matter was remitted to the competent authority for fresh adjudication.

Final Conclusion: The judgment is a remand order restoring the dispute to the statutory forum for determination in accordance with law.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a statute provides a specialised adjudicatory mechanism for determination of stamp duty liability, the High Court should not decide the issue at the first instance without the necessary factual foundation and should leave the matter to the competent authority.

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