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19. In M. PONNUSAMY & 42 OTHERS VS. THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR & OTHERS reported in 1999 (2) LW 231, while examining the scope of Section 47A, this Court held thus :-

"39) The language of Section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act is very clear.

The condition precedent for making a reference is, there must be reason for the Registering Authority to believe that the market value of the property has not been truly set forth in the document presented for registration. Hence, it follows that the reasons must be recorded, however short it may be. It is the duty of the Registering Authority to record reasons for his belief that true market value has not been set out in the document, complete registration and thereafter refer the matter to the Collector for determination of the market value of the property and the proper duty payable thereon.

41) It is essential to point out that before registration, the Registering Authority has to record that he has reasons to believe that the value of the property has not been duly set forth in the instrument. Only after recording such reasons, the Registering Authority has to complete registration of the instrument in question and thereafter alone, he could refer the same to the Collector under Sub-Section (1) of Section 47-A of the Indian Stamp Act. Such is not the case of the respondents herein.

20. The said decision by this Court has been confirmed by the Division Bench in THE DISTRICT COLLECTOR, ERODE DISTRICT & OTHERS VS. M. PONNUSAMY reported in 2001 (2) MLJ 458, The Division Bench held thus :-

"xiii) If the document presented sets forth the market value and all other facts necessary truly, the document has to be registered. To find out whether the market value has been correctly furnished in the instrument or not, Sub-rules (3) and (4) enable the registering authority, to enquire whether the market value has been correctly furnished in the instrument or not. If the registering authority, on the basis of the enquiry, has reason to believe that the market value of the property has not been truly set forth in the instrument, he may refer the matter to the Collector for determination of the market value of such property. But, even here, before referring the matter, he shall do so only after registering the said instrument.
xiv) Thus, it could be seen that if the document is registered without any doubt as to the under valuation of the document, or any reasonable belief as to the true value set forth in the instrument, and once it is registered, there is no further scope for holding the enquiry after registration regarding the value of the property for the purpose of reference. Therefore, necessarily before registering the document, the Registering Officer is entitled either to accept the valuation or refuse to accept the valuation. If he accepts the valuation, he has to register the document; if he does not accept the valuation also, he shall register the document and then refer the same to the Collector. Therefore, once the document is registered, it pre-supposes that the Registering Officer is satisfied about the valuation or it could be that he was not satisfied about the valuation, but followed it by a reference after registration.