14. Adjusdication
When any instrument, whether executed or not and whether previously stamped or not, is brought to the Collector of Stamps, and the person bringing it applies to have the opinion of that office as to the duty if any with which it is chargeable and pays the concern fees, the Collector shall determine the duty if any with which, in his judgment, the instrument is chargeable.
For this purpose the Collector of Stamps may require to be furnished with an abstract of the instrument, and also with such affidavit or other evidence as he may deem necessary to prove that all the facts and circumstances affecting the chargeability of the instrument with duty, or the amount of the duty with which it is chargeable, are fully and truly set forth therein, and may refuse to proceed up to any such application until such abstract and evidence have been furnished accordingly.
When an instrument so brought to the Collector which relates to a transaction of immovable property on which stamp duty is chargeable on the basis of market value of the subject matter of property, the Collector shall, for the purposes of assessing proper stamp duty payable thereon, determine the market value of such property by following the procedure as prescribed by rules made by the Government.
When an instrument is brought to the Collector for adjudication, the person liable to pay the stamp duty within sixty days from the date of service of the demand in respect of the stamp duty adjudicated by the Collector. If such person fails to pay the stamp duty so demanded within the said period, he shall be liable to pay a penalty on the deficient portion of the stamp duty, for every month or part thereof, from the date of execution of such instrument. :
Provided that -
(a) no evidence furnished in pursuance of this section shall be used against any person in any civil proceeding, except in an enquiry as to the duty with which the instrument to which it relates is chargeable ; and
(b) every person by whom any such evidence is furnished shall, on payment of the full duty with which the instrument to which it relates is chargeable, be relieved from any penalty which he may have incurred under this Act by reason of the omission to state truly in such instrument any of the facts or circumstances aforesaid.
The chargeability of stamp duty on the instrument as determined by the collector of stamps in adjudication is not final. The person affected by the Order of the Collector of Stamps can go in appeal to the chief controlling Revenue Authority as provided in Section 53 of the Bombay Stamp Act, 1958.
