Bombay High Court Directs Mumbai Stamps Collector To Expedite Decision On Developer's Representation

The Bombay High Court has directed the Additional Collector of Stamps, Mumbai, to expeditiously decide a representation filed in 2022 by a Mumbai-based developer seeking reconsideration of the Ready Reckoner rates applicable to its residential project.

A Division Bench of Justice M. S. Karnik and Justice S. M. Modak granted the Additional Collector twelve weeks from the date of communication of the order to hear the developer and decide the representation on merits.

The Court also directed the petitioner to remain present before the Additional Collector of Stamps, Mumbai, on January 27, 2026, at 11.00 am, along with a copy of the order.

"In such view of the matter, we are inclined to direct the Additional Collector of Stamps, Mumbai to decide the representation dated 2nd May, 2022 which is at page 53 of the paper book as expeditiously as possible and take it to its logical conclusion within a period of 12 weeks from the date of communication of this Order. The Petitioner to remain present before the Additional Collector of Stamps, Mumbai on 27th January, 2026 at 11.00 a.m. along with a copy of this Order.”, the bench said.

The petition arose from a grievance raised by the developer that its property alone had been segregated from an existing City Title Survey (CTS) and subjected to a revised Ready Reckoner rate, while adjoining properties continued to be assessed differently.

According to the petitioner, a detailed representation highlighting this issue was submitted to the Additional Collector of Stamps on May 2, 2022, but remained undecided.

As per the petitioner's case, it developed a residential project known as Avenue D Global City at Virar in Thane district. The developer claimed that with effect from April 1, 2022, its property was carved out as a separate CTS, following which the Ready Reckoner rate applicable to it was increased from Rs 50,800 per square metre to Rs 76,200 per square metre.

In contrast, the petitioner contended that adjoining properties forming part of the original CTS saw only a 20 per cent increase, with rates revised to Rs 61,000 per square metre.

The developer further asserted that treating two neighbouring properties differently amounted to discrimination and unreasonableness. It relied on an independent valuation report, which, according to the petitioner, assessed the property at a value lower than the Ready Reckoner rate fixed by the authorities.

The petitioner contended that carving out a separate CTS only for its property upset the level playing field and cited the Supreme Court's decision in Shashikant Laxman Kale to argue that the rate fixation was arbitrary.

The State resisted the petition arguing that the Ready Reckoner rates were arrived at after assessing the property's correct market value in accordance with the Maharashtra Stamp (Determination of True Market Value of Property) Rules, 1995.

Recording that the petitioner would, at this stage, be satisfied if its representation was decided in accordance with law, the High Court refrained from examining the merits of the rate fixation. Instead, it directed the Additional Collector of Stamps to consider the representation, grant the petitioner a hearing, and pass a reasoned order on its own merits.

The writ petition was accordingly disposed of.

For Petitioner: Pritesh Kumar