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31. Pre-dominantly, the stand of ICICI Bank is that they do not constitute Loan Agreement and pay Stamp Duty of Rs.50/- over the loan agreement but co-incidentally in the case in hand, on 'Loan Agreement' Ex.PW1/2 plaintiff has paid Stamp Duty of Rs.50/-.

32. Ld. Counsels for Banks and NBFCs raised several pleas which are collated as under: 

            Sl.                                  Pleas raised by Banks and NBFCs
            No.
               1    No loan agreement was actually entered between the parties, hence question of paying Stamp
                    Duty does not arise.
               2    No document titled "Loan Agreement" signed by both the sides and hence, no stamp duty is
                    payable under Article 5 of Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
               3    No Agreement of Hypothecation or Mortgage entered between the parties, hence question of
                    paying Stamp Duty does not arise.
               4    No document titled "Deed of Hypothecation" signed by both the sides and hence, no stamp
                    duty is payable under Article 40 of Indian Stamp Act, 1899.
               5    The Letter of Hypothecation/Mortgage signed by the defendant does not qualify to be a Contract,
                    hence question of paying Stamp Duty does not arise.
               6    No Stamp Duty is payable by the Bank on such document under Indian Stamp Act, 1899, a
                    liability if any, is only of Borrower.
               7    In the absence of objection from defendant, this Commercial Court can not flag any objection
                    qua Un-Stamping/Under-Stamping.
               8    Evidence already concluded and documents exhibited, hence Un-Stamping/Under-Stamping
                    stands waived now.
               9    Defendant is ex-parte, hence Un-Stamping/Under-Stamping cannot be raised now at the final
                    arguments stage.

Plea No. 3 to 5  No Agreement of Hypothecation or Mortgage entered between the parties, hence question of paying Stamp Duty does not arise.

 No document titled "Deed of Hypothecation" signed by both the sides and hence, no stamp duty is payable under Article 40 of Indian Stamp Act, 1899.  The Letter of Hypothecation/Mortgage signed by the defendant does not qualify to be a Contract, hence question of paying Stamp Duty does not arise.

59. Now, coming to the Deed of Hypothecation or Hypothecation Agreement, as discussed supra, it is created when loan is desired to be secured through a movable property which can be a automobile, machine, stock inventory or shares and debuntures, etc. In all the auto loan cases, invariably the automobile in question is hypothecated by the borrower in favour of the lender by execution of a agreement/deed/letter. As discussed supra, a Deed of Hypothecation is covered under Article 40 of Schedule attached to Indian Stamp Act and attracts 2% Stamp Duty with a ceiling of Rs.2,00,000/- in Delhi.

95. Out of 24 crore odd loan transactions around 16 crores are secured ones. The stamp duty payable as per Article 6 is 0.5% in case of mortgage and 2% in case of hypothecation as per Article 40.

While this rate may vary in different States and Union Territories even if we estimate by taking mean of 1%, for secured loan amount of Rs.28 lakh crore @ 1% comes to Rs.28,000 crore. Thus roughly the total income of the Exchequer from Indian Stamp Act through loan transactions ought to be a minimum of Rs.38,250 crore (Rs.10,250 crore + Rs.28,000 crore) as compared to Rs.17,700-Rs.23,600 crore. Thus one can estimate evasion/theft of Stamp Duty of around Rs.18,000-Rs.20,000 crore per annum by Banks and NBFCs collectively. As per reports in leading newspapers namely Hindu Business Line and Economic Times in October, 2025 citing data extracted from RBI's quaterly statistics on deposits and credit of schedule Commercial Banks/NBFC, monthly statistical supplements apart from mandatory and liquidatory reports, India's combined outstanding credit as on date stands at Rs.270 Lakh Crores. Assessing the quantum of Stamp Duty evasion/theft in the same manner it is found that the Banks and NBFCs caused the loss to exchequer to the tune of around Rs.1.26 Lakh Crores to Rs.1.40 Lakh Crores, which to say the least is colossal and mind-boggling.