Court/Tribunal Cannot Impound A Insufficiently Stamped Document Unless & Untill It Is Produced On Record Before It : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court observed that a Court or a Tribunal cannot impound a document for insufficient stamp unless and until the same is produced on record before it.

In this case, as the original Loan Agreements which contained the arbitration clause, were not produced during the arbitral proceedings, the Arbitral Tribunal directed it to be taken to the original Loan Agreements to the Collector of Stamps, Maharashtra for determination of Stamp Duty, before proceeding further in arbitration. The Tribunal did not dismissed the claim, but merely adjourned the proceedings until till the Loan Agreement is properly stamped. While allowing the petition challenging this order, the Delhi High Court observed that since the original Loan Agreements were not produced during the arbitral proceedings, they could not be impounded by the Arbitrator.

In Special Leave Petition before the Apex Court, the petitioner contended that the original applicant(s) is not placing on record the original loan agreement containing the arbitration clause. 

"If the original claimant who has initiated the arbitration proceedings relying upon the arbitration clause contained in the loan agreement is not producing the same, it is ultimately for the learned Arbitrator to pass an appropriate order and to take into consideration such a conduct. So far as the impounding of the document is concerned unless and until the same is produced on record before any Court/Tribunal, there is no question of any impounding the same, as observed hereinabove", the bench comprising Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna observed.

Dismissing the SLP, the bench observed that the Arbitrator may take call on the impounding of document provided it is produced by the original claimant.

Case details

Widescreen Holdings Private Limited vs Religare Finvest Limited | 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 435 | SLP(C) 6826-6829/2022 | 22 April 2022

Coram: Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna

Counsel: Sr. Adv Neeraj Kishan Kaul, Sr. Adv Ashish Dholakia

Headnotes

Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958 - Court or a Tribunal cannot impound an insufficiently stamped document unless and until the same is produced on record before it.

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