Court may order any document to be impounded
Full Text
Notwithstanding anything contained in rule 5 or rule 7 of this Order or in rule 17 of Order VII, the Court may, if it sees sufficient cause, direct any document or book produced before it in any suit to be impounded and kept in the custody of an officer of the Court, for such period and subject to such conditions as the Court thinks fit.
Plain English Summary
Vests overriding authority in the court to impound any suspicious, forged, or unstamped document or book produced before it and place it in the secure custody of a court officer.
Key Legal Elements
- Overriding Non-Obstante Clause: Trumps rules governing return of account books or unadmitted documents.
- Trigger Grounds: Suspected forgery, tampering, or deficiency of stamp duty under Section 33 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
- Custody of Court Officer: Placed in judicial lockup/safe custody under court Nazir or Registrar.
- Impounding Procedure under Stamp Act: Document sent to Collector of Stamps for penalty assessment.
Practical Note
Impounding Unstamped Instruments in Court: 1. Supreme Court Landmark - Chilakuri Gangulappa v. Revenue Divisional Officer (2001) 4 SCC 197 & SMS Tea Estates (2011) 14 SCC 66: Under Section 33 of the Stamp Act read with Order XIII Rule 8 CPC, when an unstamped or insufficiently stamped instrument is produced, the civil court has an inescapable statutory duty to impound it immediately. It cannot be admitted into evidence until the deficit stamp duty and 10x penalty are paid. 2. Application Header: 'Application on behalf of Defendant under Order XIII Rule 8 CPC read with Section 33/35 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 for Impounding the Unstamped Agreement to Sell dated [Date]'.
हिंदी पाठ
इस आदेश के नियम 5 या नियम 7 में अथवा आदेश 7 के नियम 17 में किसी बात के होते हुए भी, न्यायालय, यदि पर्याप्त हेतुक देखता है, तो किसी वाद में अपने समक्ष प्रस्तुत किसी दस्तावेज या बही को परिबद्ध (Impounded) करने और ऐसी अवधि के लिए तथा ऐसे निबंधनों के अधीन, जैसे न्यायालय ठीक समझे, न्यायालय के किसी अधिकारी की अभिरक्षा में रखे जाने का निदेश दे सकेगा।