Application for Partition (Taqseem) of a Joint Holding, with Oral (Family) Partition Memorandum

ਸਟਾਂਪ ਡਿਊਟੀ

Two separate stamp questions, and it is fatal to run them together. First, the application: a pleading, not a conveyance — no ad valorem duty, only COURT FEE (un-amended Court Fees Act 1870 as applicable to Punjab; a 2009 slab amendment has been stayed since 27 November 2013), paid by e-stamp. No published figure exists — ask the Ahlmad/Reader of the Revenue Officer's court. Second, larger: the s.121 instrument of partition, charged under Article 45, Schedule I-A, Indian Stamp Act 1899, on the SMALLER shares separated (Punjab Stamp Manual, Note 84: four equal shareholders pay on twelve annas in the rupee; a two-thirds sharer separating pays on one-third). Duty is deposited in CASH during the proceeding, stamp affixed to the final order after the appeal period (Financial Commissioner's Book Circulars XVI/XX of 1880); section 29(g) governs apportionment. The Article 45 RATE could not be confirmed from any primary source — get it from the Sub-Registrar or the Deputy Commissioner's stamp branch in writing before depositing anything; don't assume the sale rate (5% plus 1% cess plus 1% PIDB plus 0.25% SIDF). Valuation runs on consideration or the Collector Rate, whichever higher, revised annually per district/land class, effective 1 April. Two concessions, one arguable here: the women's 2% applies only to a Conveyance (entry 23), not a partition. The blood-relation remission (WHOLE duty, on a lifetime transfer to a child, grandchild, brother or sister, Order S.O.28/C.A.2/1899/S.9/2014, 7 May 2014) may or may not cover a partition between brothers — UNRESOLVED, since a partition is a severance, not a transfer; confirm in writing first. Even if it applies, it remits stamp duty only, not the registration fee, cess or PIDB levy. The Part II Memorandum is chargeable under Article 45 only if it itself divides the land, not if it merely records an old one (Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation, AIR 1976 SC 807; Roshan Singh v. Zile Singh, AIR 1988 SC 881) — officials look through the label. Undervaluation risks a section 47-A reference to the Collector; section 35 bars an unstamped instrument from evidence. E-stamp certificates are mandatory above Rs 19,999 (Punjab e-Stamp Rules 2014) — don't buy one early, since unlocked certificates/receipts lapse after four and one months respectively. This is a Punjab instrument; every figure above is Punjab's. Chandigarh runs no Takseem scheme and prices a partition differently (its own calculator, not the published schedule, returns 2%, 1% registration capped at Rs 10,000, Rs 20 pasting, none of Punjab's add-ons) — a joint holding in a Chandigarh revenue village belongs with the UT's own Revenue Department instead.

ਰਜਿਸਟਰੀ

The Part I application is filed with the Revenue Officer, not a Sub-Registrar — online under the Takseem scheme, at the tehsil counter, or at a Sewa Kendra (online verifies the applicant by mobile OTP). Compulsory is the mutation ENTRY — a partition never reaching the jamabandi has changed nothing a bank or buyer can see. Mutation fee Rs 600 (section 38, Punjab Land Revenue Act 1887) plus Rs 200 pasting, but partition multiplies it: a SEPARATE fee per new holding, and again for the shamilat (section 38(2); para 7.33, Punjab Land Records Manual), recovered at attestation. Four brothers dividing a khewat with a shamilat share owe five fees. A mutation finalised by 15 June goes into that year's jamabandi (para 7.56); otherwise it waits for the next quinquennial cycle, though valid from the order date regardless. The needed fard costs, from the Patwari, Rs 20 per page (jamabandi copy), Rs 20 flat (Fard Haqiat) or Rs 20 per four fields (tatima shajra) (para 3.48, Punjab Land Records Manual, Rule 71); a computerised nakal from a Fard/Sewa Kendra is separately charged under Rule 71-B at an unstated amount — confirm on screen first. Time limits: consent partition is a 30-day notified service (+2 days at a Sewa/Fard/Saanjh Kendra; appeal to the Sub-Divisional Magistrate then the Deputy Commissioner if missed); mutation attestation is a separate 45-day service. A voluntary registered Partition Deed instead: compulsorily registrable (section 17(1)(b), Registration Act 1908), present within four months (sections 23/32/34) or inadmissible (section 49; a further four condonable under section 25 on ten times the fee); fee 1% of value (minimum Rs 50, maximum Rs 2,00,000) plus facilitation charges (Rs 1,000/3,000/5,000 by consideration slab) and Rs 200 pasting; needs a Nakal Jamabandi, ID, two photos, Form 61/60. The section 121 instrument differs from this deed — ask the Sub-Registrar if it's separately presented locally. Part II is registrable only if it itself divides the land, not if merely recording an old one (Kale v. Deputy Director of Consolidation, AIR 1976 SC 807; Roshan Singh v. Zile Singh, AIR 1988 SC 881). Appeal against a Revenue Officer's order: Collector (30 days), Commissioner (60), Financial Commissioner (90) (sections 13–14; no second appeal if confirmed on first; review under section 15, revision under section 16). An order on the MODE of partition is understood — not verified against the Act's text — to be unappealable under section 118(2); argue the mode while the case is open.

ਨੋਟਰੀ

Nothing requires the section 111 application to be notarised or sworn — the applicant's verification clause suffices. Notarise instead: an attorney's power of attorney (section 33, Registration Act 1908); a consent-identity affidavit for an absent co-sharer; a guardian's-authority affidavit for a minor/unsound-mind co-sharer; and the applicant's affidavit that nobody's omitted. Affidavits go on non-judicial stamp paper or e-stamp (mandatory above Rs 19,999, Punjab e-Stamp Rules 2014). The Article 4 value itself isn't on the Revenue Department's table — ask first; the wrong denomination is refused at the window. Use a Notaries Act 1952 advocate-notary and confirm his registration number and register entry. Notarisation doesn't stamp, register, or make Part II operative: a memorandum recording an old partition is evidence only; one purporting to divide land today is unregistered and inadmissible (section 49, Registration Act 1908) regardless of any seal. The Takseem route works because consent is proved to the Revenue Officer directly, not because a notary saw it.

ਗਵਾਹ

Two, matching Punjab's minimum for a Partition Deed (Sub-Registrar FAQ, Q13). They attest only what they saw: the Applicant always, and co-sharers too wherever the consent block or Part II prints. Strictly, section 111 needs no attesting witness in law; witnesses matter for Part II, where the Revenue Officer tests the claimed old partition against the khasra girdawari, revenue payments, tubewells and boundaries. Choose the Lambardar or a long-resident cultivator over an outsider. No statutory bar on an interested witness (section 67, Indian Succession Act 1925 is a will provision, inapplicable here), but avoid a co-sharer/spouse/beneficiary as prudence. Adults of sound mind, full details. Separately (the substance): every recorded co-sharer must sign the consent block for a consent partition; without it, the case is contested, before an Assistant Collector First Grade (section 126) — notice still issues under section 112, others may be added under section 113. More co-sharers than four spaces: use the annexed sheet. Bring ID/photos for co-sharers and witnesses alike (Form 61/60). A minor can neither witness nor consent.