A construction company has been asked to pay Rs 214 crore for stamp evasion, in the largest case made out by the stamps department in the state.
Court of collector (stamp) circle – Jaipur-I, ordered Rs 214.84 crore recovery from the company, Oriental Nagpur Bypass Construction Pvt Ltd, on a case unearthed by the state directorate of revenue intelligence (SDRI) on stamp duty evasion. This order is the largest case made by the stamps department based on the information given by SDRI, said officials. The court ordered the company to pay Rs 64.32 crore for stamp duty and Rs 75.26 crore as interest and the same amount as penalty taking the total amount to Rs 214.84 crore.
An investigation conducted by SDRI on stamp duty evasion found that the consortium and banks, in order to evade stamp duty, executed their common loan agreements outside Rajasthan like in Delhi or in Haryana on stamp papers of Rs 100 or Rs 500.
The common loan agreements between consortium and banks are bilateral documents aimed at reducing the risk of debt between the lender (group of bankers led by the lead bank) and the loaner. Stamp duty is payable on the said document under the Rajasthan Stamp Act, 1998, as per rules.
The SDRI has asked Oriental Nagpur Bypass Construction Pvt Ltd to produce relevant documents on suspicion of stamp duty evasion.
On examination of the documents, it was found that Oriental Nagpur Bypass Construction Pvt Ltd, had signed a loan agreement with six major banks and financial institutions, including SBBJ, Jaipur, in 2010, in connection with construction and maintenance of the highway. This agreement executed in New Delhi amounted to Rs 1,289 crore.
According to the Rajasthan Stamp Act, stamp duty is payable on documents executed in the state as well as on documents executed outside the state if any immovable property related to such documents is located in Rajasthan or the document is related to a work to be carried out in Rajasthan.
