The issue pertains to registration of a supplementary sale agreement for a 43-hectare plot at Borivade in Thane, where stamp duty was not charged according to the prevailing rates but on the basis of old, lower valuations.
In a major crackdown to prevent loss of revenue to the state exchequer, the department of registration and stamps has suspended two officials in Thane for undervaluation of duty to the tune of a massive Rs27 crore.
The issue pertains to registration of a supplementary sale agreement for a 43-hectare plot at Borivade in Thane, where stamp duty was not charged according to the prevailing rates but on the basis of old, lower valuations.
Recovery proceedings against the parties involved in the transaction have been launched.
"Two officials have been suspended for undervaluation of stamp duty and negligence," Dr Ramaswami N, inspector general of Registration and Controller of Stamps, told dna. "They did not check if the proper stamp duty had been paid or not despite having the opportunity," he said, adding that the anomaly was revealed in an internal inspection.
A senior official said the acting sub-registrar and senior clerk had been suspended earlier this month.
He added that an agreement to sale had been entered into in 1983, and was adjudicated upon later. In October 2013, a supplementary agreement was registered and, on that basis, the conveyance deed and sale of the land was registered this March.
"The document should have been charged stamp duty on the basis of 2013 rates and not on the basis of those prevailing in 1983, which were very low. This led to undervaluation and loss of revenue to the tune of Rs27 crore, which should have been paid in 2013. In 2015, whether this payment was made should have been checked," the official said, adding that circulars issued by them had not been adhered to. He said the procedure for the recovery against the parties who had executed the documents had been started by the collector of stamps, Thane.
In 2014, Ramaswami's predecessor Dr Shrikar Pardeshi had undertaken similar disciplinary action for undervaluation worth Rs13 crore in Andheri.
The department of registrations and stamps collected Rs20,183 crore in revenues in 2014-15 and has a target of around Rs21,000 crore for the present financial year.
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