017-NLR-NLR-V-23-In-re-the-Application-of-K.-S.-VEERAVAGU,-NOTARY-Public.pdf
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Present: De Sampayo J. and Schneider AJ.
In re the Application of EL. S. Vehravaou, Notary Public.
Sffttnp duty—Dowry deed—Deed of gift—Settlement.
dowry deed given in consideration of marriage has to bee^i^ad under Article 30 as a deed of gift.
rpHSf^s appear from the judgment.
Aridanandan, for appellant.—Under the Tesawdhunai a dowrymay be given either previous or subsequent to marriage. A past^ferriage is a good consideration for a dowry deed. 4 ThambydhI f6 ; 1 C. W> B. 121. The deed under discussion puts the matterbeyond controversy, for it recites that the lands were conveyed“ by way of dowry ” and “ in consideration of the marriage ofRatnavathy.” The deed is, therefore, not a gift pure and simple,and cannot therefore fall within the purview of Article 30 of Part I. ofSchedule B, which deals with “ gift or deed of gift of any property.”If a past marriage is a good and valid consideration, the deed inquestion falls under Article 22 (a) as a “ conveyance or transfer ofimmovable property for any consideration.”
GarvinfK.C., S.-G. (with him MvBunayagam).—The history of theamendments to the Stamp Ordinance indicates that it was meantto bring dowry deeds also under Article 30. Before the amendmentthis deed would have been classed under Article 49 as a “settle-ment.” This article was deliberately omitted. A dowry deed isa deed of gift, and cannot be classed as a “ bill of sale ”or “ writing ”requiring registration under Ordinance No. 8 of 1871.
Aridanandan, in reply.
September 15,1921. Da Sampayo J.—
This is an appeal from the decision of the Commissioner of Stampswith regard to the value of stamps payable on deed No. 11,326dated May 8,1920, and attested by theappellant as notary public.The deed is a gift of a number of lands by P. S. Nicholas, Mudaliyar,and his wife to their daughter Ratnavathy. The deed is in Tamil,'and is on the face of it called “ dowry deed,” and in the operativeportion it purports to convey the lands “ by way of dowry inconsideration of the marriage ” of Ratnavathy. The donee hadalready been given in marriage, but as, under the customary lawprevailing in Jafina, a dowry may be given at, before, or after themarriage, the feet of the marriage being prior to the deed would notmake it any the less a dowry, if, in fact, it was one.
1921.
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1921.
Db SahpavoJ.
ApplicationofK. S.Veeravagu
The appellant stamped the deed as one falling under Article 22 (a)in the>3chedule to the Stamp Ordinance No. 22 of 1909, as amendedby Ordinance No. 10 of 1919. That article provides for a certainscale of charges for deeds “ where the purchase or considerationmoney therein or thereupon expressed, or if the consideration beother than a pecuniary one, or partly pecuniary and partly otherthan pecuniary, the value of the property shall be,” and thenfollows a schedule of value. The contention on behalf of theappellant is that the consideration for the deed in question is themarriage of the donee which is a consideration other than pecuniary,and that therefore the deed should be stamped under Article 22 (a).But it should be noted that Article 22 (a) describes the deeds therebyprovided for as “ writing or bill of sale ” by way of conveyance ortransfer requiring registration under Ordinance No. 8 of 1871.A dowry deed, whatever else it may be, is not a “ bill of sale ” or“ writing” requiring registration under Ordinance No. 8 of 1871.The Commissioner of Stamps decided that the1 deed should bestamped under Article 30 as a “ gift or deed of gift.” I think insdecision is right. A dowry, though it may be given in considerationof marriage, is, nevertheless, a gift. The history of legislationshows that a dowry deed is now intended to be brought as a deed ofgift pnder Article 301 The principal Ordinance No. 22 cf 1909 by.Article 49 provided for “ instrument of settlement, including deedof dower,” while it contained articles corresponding to Article 22 (a)and Article 30 of the amending Ordinance. Section 3 (24) defined“ settlement ” as meaning “ any non-testamentary disposition, inwriting, of movable or immovable property made (a) in considera-tion of marriage, &c.” This being so, when the schedule to theprincipal Ordinance was in operation, a dowry deed would bestamped under Article 49 as a “ settlement.” But by the amend-ing Ordinance No. 16 of 1917 section 3 (24) of the principal Ordi-nance defining “ settlement ” was wholly repealed, a new schedulewas substituted, and the old Artiole No. 49 was entirely omitted.The present Ordinance likewise omits to make any separate provi-sion for “ settlements.” Consequently a dowry deed, which is afterall a gift, though it may be a gift of a special kind, must be stamped,as the Commissioner has decided, under Article 30.
This appeal should, I think, be dismissed, with costs.
Schneider A.J.—I agree.
Appeal dismissed.
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