Supreme Court affirms stamp duty on pre-sale agreements, upholding penalties for principal document designation.

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....The appeal challenges the liability to pay stamp duty and penalty on agreements executed prior to the sale deed for two properties. The court determined the real intention from the instrument's contents and language. Section 4(1) states that where multiple instruments complete a transaction, the principal instrument alone is chargeable with the highest duty prescribed in Schedule I. The proviso allows parties to determine the principal instrument themselves. In this case, although the agreements mentioned conveyance and the sale deed followed, the properties' value exceeded Rs.100, and possession was handed over on the agreement date, implying acquisition of possessory rights u/s 53A of the Transfer of Property Act, requiring proper stamp d.........