Gujarat government empowers more officers to hear stamp duty cases

In a bid to speed up disposal of pending stamp duty cases, the state government has decided to empower additional deputy collectors and mamlatdars in select districts to hear such cases.

At present, only Prant Officers and deputy collector (stamp duty) are authorised to hear cases related to section 32 (a) of the Gujarat Stamp Act, 1958, which pertains to non-payment of the correct stamp duty amount on transfer of property.

Revenue minister Kaushik Patel announced on Monday that 32 deputy collectors and mamlatdars in 12 districts, which have a high number of pending cases, would be authorised to hear cases related to section 32 (a).

"This decision of the state government empowers more officials to hear the pending cases, and ensure quicker hearing and speedy disposal," Patel said.

A senior government official said that more than 1.60 lakh cases related to section 32 (a) of the stamp duty law are pending. Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot are among the cities which have a large number of pending cases.

The state government said in a release that the decision to empower more officers to hear the cases would enable citizens pay the stamp duty at taluka or district level. He said that payment of stamp duty would lead to registration of more property documents, and boost the government's revenues.

"The decision will also benefit citizens as they would become legal owners of the properties concerned, without any legal encumbrance," said an official.