Supreme Court Exempts Wife From Paying Stamp Duty For Flat Acquired As Part Of Compromise In Divorce Case

The Supreme Court recently exempted a wife, who received a flat as part of a compromise with her husband in a matrimonial dispute, from the payment of stamp duty under the Registration Act, 1908 (“Act”).

The bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard the case where the husband and wife, during the pendency of the petition filed by the husband seeking transfer of the divorce case filed by the wife, agreed to mutually dissolve their marriage in the mediation proceedings.

During the mediation proceedings, a dispute arose between the parties regarding their respective rights over a flat in Bombay, as both claimed to have contributed to its purchase. Consequently, a settlement was reached wherein the petitioner-husband agreed to relinquish his rights over the flat in favor of the respondent-wife, who, in return, agreed to forgo any claim for alimony.

Now, the question that appeared for the Court's consideration was whether the exclusive title of the flat in question can be transferred in the name of the respondent-wife without requiring her to pay the stamp duty.

Answering affirmatively, the Court, relying on the recent case of Mukesh v. The State of Madhya Pradesh & Anr. (2024) said that since the flat was the subject matter of the compromise and formed part of the proceedings before the Court, the transfer would be exempt from stamp duty under Section 17(2)(vi) of the Act.

“Manifestly, the flat-in-question is the subject matter of the compromise and as a consequence, it forms part of the proceedings before this Court. Hence, the exclusion provided by Section 17(2)(vi) of the Registration Act, 1908 will apply and the registration of the flat-in-question in the exclusive name of the respondent-wife would be exempted from the payment of stamp duty.”, the court observed.

As a result, thereof, the Court directed the Sub-Registrar concerned to register the flat-in-question in the exclusive name of respondent-wife as its owner.

The applications under Article 142 of the Constitution of India were allowed. Accordingly, the marriage of the parties is dissolved by mutual consent.

Case Title: ARUN RAMESHCHAND ARYA VERSUS PARUL SINGH

Click here to read/download the order

Appearance:

For Petitioner(s) :Mr. Rajiv K.Garg, Adv. Mr. Ashish Garg, Adv. Mr. Lalit Nagar, Adv. Mr. T. L. Garg, AOR

For Respondent(s) :Mr. Himanshu Shekhar, AOR Mr. Parth Shekhar, Adv. Mr. Shubham Singh, Adv. Ms. Ambali Vedasen, Adv. Mr. Youkteshwari Prasad, Adv. Mr. Mata Prasad Pathak, Adv. Mr. Mukesh Kumar Verma, Adv. Mr. Ugranath Kumar, Adv. Mr. Prakhar Garg, Adv. Mr. Gyanesh Kumar Maheswari, Adv.