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"47-A. Instruments of conveyance etc., if undervalued, how to be dealt with:- (1)(a) If the market value of any property which is the subject of any instrument on which duty is chargeable on the market value of the property as set forth in such instrument is less than even the minimum value determined in accordance with any rules made under the Act, the registering officer appointed under Indian Registration Act, 1908, shall, notwithstanding anything contained in the said Act, immediately after presentation of such instruments and before accepting it for registration and taking any action under section 52 of the said Act, require the person liable to pay the deficit stamp duty as computed on the basis of the minimum value determined in accordance with the said rules and return the instrument for presenting again in accordance with section 23 of the Registration Act, 1908.
(3) The Collector may suo moto,or on a reference from any court or from the Commissioner of Stamps or an Additional Commissioner of Stamps or a Deputy Commissioner of Stamps or an Assistant Commissioner of Stamps or any Officer authorized by the Board of Revenue in that regard, within four years from the date of registration of any instrument on which duty is chargeable on the market value of the property, not already referred to him under sub section (1), call for and examine the instrument for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the correctness of the market value of the property which is the subject of such instrument and the duty payable thereon, and if after such examination he has reason to believe that the market value of such property has not been truly set forth in the instrument, he may determine the market value of such property and the duty payable thereon.

(4) If on enquiry under sub section (2) and examination under sub section (3) the Collector finds the market value of the property-

a) truly set forth and the document duly stamped, he shall certify by endorsement that it is duly stamped and return it to the person who made the reference

b) not truly set forth and not truly stamped, he shall require the payment of the proper duty or the amount required to make up the deficiency in the same together with a penalty of an amount not exceeding four times the amount of proper duty or the deficit portion thereof.

13. Before the introduction of Section 47 A in the Stamp Act, there was no provision under the said Act empowering the revenue authorities to make an enquiry regarding the valuation of the property conveyed for the purpose of determining the duty chargeable, if, the registering authorities were of the view that the valuation shown in the document was undervalued. This was reflected through the decision in Himalaya House Company vs. Chief Controlling Authority & another, AIR 1972 SC 898, whereby this court held that the stamp duty was chargeable as conveyance under Article 23 and the Collector (Stamps) was not entitled to charge stamp duty on a document presented for registration except on the consideration set forth in the document. Pursuant to this judgment, several States amended the Stamp Act. The State of UP also introduced an amendment by way of Section 47 A, which has been quoted herein above. Thus, the object underlying Section 47 A of the Indian Stamp Act is to neutralize the effect of under valuation of immovable property under registered instrument of sale or exchange or gift or partition or settlement. From a bare perusal of sub-section (1) of Section 47 A of the Act, it is clear that if the market value of any property, which is the subject matter of an instrument on which stamp duty is chargeable, as set forth in the instrument, is less than even the minimum value determined in accordance with the rules made under this Act, the registering officer shall request the person to pay the deficit stamp duty and present the instrument again for registration. At the same time, it should be kept in mind that it is not enough for the authorities for the purpose of invoking Section 47 A that the consideration amount stated in the instrument of sale is less than the prevailing market value but they must be satisfied that there is an attempt of under valuation. It is pertinent to mention that if the registering authority finds that the market value of the property presented for registration is higher than the one shown in the document, in that case, the registering authority after presentation of such instrument and before accepting the document for registration would ask the person liable to pay the required stamp duty, to pay the deficit amount as computed on the basis of the minimum value determined in accordance with the rules and return the instrument for presenting the document again in accordance with Section 23 of the Registration Act. Again a close look at Sub-Section (2) of Section 47 A reveals that in case such an officer has reason to believe that the market value of the property has been under valued, he shall refer the same to the Collector but only after registering the same. Even for the sake of argument, if we assume that Section 47 A is applicable in the present case, then also it is apparent that in the current scenario, the registering authority could not register the said instrument before referring it to the Collector which has been mandated under the Act. For the further illustration of this point, we may refer to the decision of this Court in State of Punjab vs. Mahavir Singh, (1996) 1 SCC 609, where this Court has categorically held that whenever a document is presented for registration, the Sub- Registrar is required first to register the document and then make a reference under Section 47 A if he deems fit and proper.