CAG flags irregularities worth Rs 60 cr in stamp duty, registration fee

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has detected non, short levy of stamp duty and registration fee and other irregularities amounting to Rs 60.13 crore in 1,308 cases in the Revenue Department.

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It carried out a test check of 65 of 143 units of the department during 2021-22. The report concerned was tabled before the Haryana Legislative Assembly today.

142 deeds were undervalued.

During scrutiny of the records between January 2021 and March 2022 of 23 Sub-Registrar and Joint Sub-Registrar (SRs/JSRs) offices for 2019-20 and 2020-21, the audit noticed 142 documents were registered undervalued by taking residential, commercial, industrial, or institutional land as agricultural with lower collector rates.

In some cases, stamp duty for covered areas was not levied, or short levied.

The value of these properties was to be assessed at Rs 642 crore, on which stamp duty of Rs 36.53 crore and registration fee of Rs 44.32 lakh was required to be levied.

“However, the department assessed the value of these properties at Rs 315.52 crore and levied stamp duty of Rs 17.92 crore and registration fee of Rs 30.58 lakh, which resulted in a short levy of stamp duty of Rs 18.61 crore and registration fee of Rs 13.74 lakh, totalling Rs 18.75 crore,” said the report.

Twenty-two SR/JSR offices stated in February 2023 that all cases had been sent to the Collector under Section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act for decision. SR, Hisar, in one case, has recovered Rs 62,525 of Rs 97,700. Kaithal SR stated in January 2021 that the cases would be sent to the Collector for decision and the audit would be intimated with the action taken as per the decision.

“During the exit conference (July 2023), the department accepted the audit observation,” said the report.

Conveyance deeds

The scrutiny of records of 15 SRs/JSRs revealed that 41 conveyance deeds were registered for sale at normal khasra rates for agricultural land from April 2019 to March 2021, whereas the khasra of these deeds, as per land revenue records, was prime khasra having higher land rates. It resulted in a short levy of stamp duty of Rs 64.28 lakh.