Paying deficit stamp duty cannot revive an unregistered relinquishment deed, Rajasthan High Court holds

3 November 2026

The Rajasthan High Court has held that paying deficit stamp duty does not cure the non registration of a document that the law requires to be registered.
Justice Sameer Jain decided Radheshyam Gupta v Ankur Khandelwal and others, with a connected petition, reported as 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 467.
Non registration of a compulsorily registrable document was described as a fatal and incurable defect, and curing the stamp defect does not revive the document.
The proviso to Section 49 of the Registration Act, 1908 lets an unregistered document be received for a limited collateral purpose if it is duly stamped. The Court held that using the deed to claim exclusive title and possession was the core dispute, not a collateral purpose, and relied on the Supreme Court's decision in M/s Paul Rubber Industries.
Asking the civil court to impound a document already held inadmissible was called a futile and dilatory tactic; the party could deposit the deficit duty independently under the Rajasthan Stamp Act, 1998 if it genuinely wished to cure the defect.
The civil court's orders were upheld and both petitions were dismissed.