A certified deed copy may be issued against an equivalent stamp-value deposit pending trial.

The petitioner stated that a sale deed dated 3 May 1991, Deed No. 4191, was executed in his favour and presented for registration before the ADSR, Contai-I.

He received an IGR copy but did not receive the original deed; his 1994 application for a certified copy was returned.

The ADSR later stated that the deed had been seized before completion of registration under Section 60 of the Registration Act, 1908, in connection with criminal proceedings alleging use of forged stamp papers, and was now in the ADSR’s custody.

The office declined to issue a certified copy without a court order.

After the petitioner offered in 2024 to pay the stamp-duty amount and received no response, he filed this writ petition.

Whether the ADSR should be directed to provide the petitioner a certified copy of Deed No. 4191 of 1991 despite the pending criminal proceedings concerning alleged forged stamp papers.

Whether that copy may be provided upon the petitioner depositing an amount equivalent to the aggregate value of the stamp papers, with the amount retained pending determination of the stamp papers’ genuineness.

The Court relied on the directions of the Division Bench in FMA 200 of 2010 with CAN 10275 of 2009, and noted similar orders in WPA 17771 of 2023 and WPA 28264 of 2024.

Applying the approach in FMA 200 of 2010, the Court directed that a certified copy could be issued upon payment of an amount equivalent to the aggregate value of the stamp papers, with that amount held in an interest-bearing term deposit until the criminal trial determined whether the papers were genuine.

The ADSR’s written statement confirmed that the deed was in its custody but withheld the certified copy because the deed was allegedly written on forged stamp papers and criminal proceedings were pending.

Rather than resolve the allegation in the writ proceeding, the Court followed the approach adopted in the Division Bench precedent: it required the petitioner to deposit an equivalent amount, preserved that amount pending the criminal trial, and made its ultimate disposition dependent on the trial’s finding about the stamp papers’ genuineness.

The ADSR was to issue the copy within two weeks of receiving the application and payment.

The deposit must remain in an interest-bearing term deposit until conclusion of the related criminal trial; if the stamp papers are found forged, it is to be transferred to the State Government, and if genuine, returned to the petitioner with accrued interest.

There was no order as to costs.