Ram (Student) 24 February 2015

Stamp papers

Hi Everyone

I have a question on stamp papers. My father was an advocate/notary public in TN and he passed away a few months back. He had left behind some amount of unused stamp papers for which the date/year ranges from 2008-2014. He usually sells them for a little profit if the papers are of past years. Now that he has passed, I'm not sure what to do with the stamp papers he has left behind. I also have some of the papers worth Rs. 25000 that was bought for me to buy land and then the plan of buying the land was dropped. The stamp papers were unused. I know that normally stamp vendors sell it for a markup on top of what they paid in the treasury to get the stamp papers. With the digital stamp paper in place (eStampPaper), the old style printed stamp papers are not in use now.

I have a few questions on this:

What is the normal procedure and how to handle the papers?

Can I give it to some other advocate/notary public for face value? or more?

Will there be any issues dealing with these when I'm in a different profession?

Can I authorize someone to sell these papers for me?

What do I do with the stamp papers I got for my own purpose but never used?

Can I sell it back to the treasury? what documents do I need to have for this?

With the digital stamp papers now in practice, are these even worth maintaining/selling?

Appreciate your answers.

Thanks

Ram

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4 Replies

Elamaran Perumal (Law Officer) 25 February 2015

Hi Ram

As far as my understanding with the Indian Stamp Act goes, any unused Non-Judicial Stamp Paper has to be returned to the Collector of Stamps within 6 months if any one wants to get refund for them.

Coming to the validity of NJ Stamp Papers, there is no any validity period mentioned under the Indian Stamp Act-1899. They are permanently valid if they are preserved for documentation purpose.

Therefore, a NJ Stamp Paper can be used for documentation purpose at any time and the 6 months validity period comes into play only in case a refund is sought for unused papers since it is a revenue related issue and the Act itself is financial nature of legislation.

Elamaran P

9445002512

Advocate Ravinder (Advocate/Attorney) 25 February 2015

What is the normal procedure and how to handle the papers?

---It is illegal to hold unused/blank stamp papers. You have to hand over the same to Stamps Department.

Can I give it to some other advocate/notary public for face value? or more?

--No—If you try to handover/sell to some other advocate it is an criminal offence.

Will there be any issues dealing with these when I'm in a different profession?

--answered above--

Can I authorize someone to sell these papers for me?

--NO—answered above--

What do I do with the stamp papers I got for my own purpose but never used?

--Later you can use them for your own purpose, but for any other use.

Can I sell it back to the treasury? what documents do I need to have for this?

With the digital stamp papers now in practice, are these even worth maintaining/selling?

--You can handover them to the treasury, but I think you will not get any money. Enquire with them.

T. Kalaiselvan, Advocate (Advocate) 01 March 2015

You may consult the colleague advocates of your deceased father about this and take their advise on further issues or visit the nearest treasury office and look for the official solution to this issue.

K.K.Ganguly (Advocate) 01 March 2015

1. Holding such unused stamp papers for so long witout returning the same to the issuing authority is illegal, 2. This type of stamp papers are usually used by Advocates/Vendors to fraudulently manufacture/create back dated Agreements fitting the requirements of unscrupulous clients.