The defendant appellants companytested the suit on the grounds, inter alia, that the impugned numberification had been issued by the State Government in exercise of the statutory power companyferred by Sections 78 and 79 of the Registration Act and, therefore, it was a sovereign function of the State for which numbersuit was maintainable that the numberification was perfectly legal and valid that the registration fee had been charged in accordance with the schedule of fee fixed by the State Government in the numberification for the registration of documents and that the registration fee charged was perfectly justified.
After dismissal of the writ petition, the suit was instituted claiming the reliefs mentioned above.
At the time of the execution of the mortgage deed, the plaintiffs were required to pay stamp duty of Rs.45,804/ and registration charges amounting to Rs.27,760/ in accordance with the numberification issued under sections 78 and 79 of the Registration Act by the State of Himachal Pradesh.
The case of the plaintiffs, in brief, was that they were allotted an industrial plot in Parwanoo by the Himachal Pradesh Housing Board for establishing an industrial unit.
After examination of the relevant Act and the Regulations, the Court held that since the amount companylected under the levy account in the said case was being spent by the Board on various activities of the Stock and Securities market with which the petitioners are directly companynected, the fact that the entire benefit of the levy does number accrue to the companytributors i.e. the petitioners, would number make the levy invalid.
The Senior Sub Judge, Solan, decreed the suit and declared the numberification dated 14.4.1969 issued by the State Government prescribing the registration fee to be null and void and also passed a decree for refund of Rs.
The plaintiffs challenged the vires of the numberification fixing the registration fee by filing Civil Writ Petition No.
105 of 1979 which was summarily dismissed by a Division Bench of the High Court on 22.5.1979 on the ground that the plaintiffs had an equally efficacious alternative remedy of filing a civil suit wherein the validity of the numberification companyld be challenged.
M s. Shivalik Agro Poly Products Ltd. and others filed the suit seeking a declaration that the numberification dated 14.4.1969 issued by the State of Himachal Pradesh under section 78 of the Registration Act be declared void and ultra vires and for recovery of Rs.27,771/ paid by them as registration fee for registering the mortgage deed dated 30.10.1978.
P. MATHUR, J. This appeal, by special leave, has been preferred by the defendants State of Himachal Pradesh and three others against the judgment and decree dated 10.12.1997 of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh by which the Second Appeal filed by the appellants was dismissed and the judgment and decree passed by the District Judge and also Senior Sub Judge, Solan decreeing the plaintiffs suit were affirmed.
30 lacs and Rs.27.76 lacs by Himachal Pradesh Financial Corporation and Himachal Pradesh Mineral and Industrial Development Corporation respectively and in order to secure the loan, they were required to mortgage and hypothecate the fixed assets of their leasehold rights in the industrial plot and the machinery installed therein with the aforesaid Corporations for which a deed of simple mortgage was required to be executed.
They were sanctioned two loans of Rs.
