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"45A. Instrument not bearing stamp of sufficient amount as per fair value of land how to be dealt with.-- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Registering Officer shall, while registering an instrument transferring any land, chargeable with duty verify whether the value of land or the consideration set forth in the instrument is the fair value of that land.
(2) Where on such verification, the Registering Officer is satisfied that the value of the land or the consideration set forth in the instrument is not less than the fair value of the land, he shall duly register the instrument.

(3) The Collector may, suo motu, within two years from the date of registration of any instrument 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 its value or consideration, as the case may be, and the duty payable thereon, and if after such examination, he has reason to believe that the value or consideration has not been truly set forth in the instrument, he may determine the value or consideration and the duty aforesaid in accordance with the procedure provided for in sub- section (2); and the deficient amount of duty, if any, shall be payable by the person liable to pay the duty and, on the payment of such duty, the Collector shall endorse a certificate of such payment on the instrument under his seal and signature.

13. Under both the provisions (Sections 45A and 45B), the registering officer is authorised to verify the value of the land consideration set forth in the instruments presented for registration and if it is not less than the fair value, he is bound to register as per Section 45A. On the other hand, if it is less than the fair value, it needs to be registered only on payment of stamp duty payable, reckoning the fair value as the relevant figure. Coming to Section 45B, if the registering authority is having reason to believe that value of the property or the consideration shown in the document not reflecting the true value/consideration, reference can be made to the Collector for determination of value or consideration after registering the documents. Suo motu power is also vested upon the first respondent to deal with the situation, as mentioned under Section 45B (3). The observation of this Court in paragraph 7 in Pareekutty Vs. Sub Registrar (2010 (3) KLT 1005) is relevant, which is extracted below :

14. However, circumstances are bound to occur where the actual consideration passed is higher than the fair value fixed under S.28A. S.45B states how such cases are to be dealt with. In such cases, if the registering officer has reason to believe that the value of the property or consideration has not been duly set forth, after registering such instrument, he can refer the same to the Collector for determination of the value or consideration and proper duty payable. S.45B(3) also empowers the Collector to initiate suo motu action within two years from the date of registration of an instrument which was not referred to him under sub-section (1) of Section 45B to call for and examine the correctness of the value or consideration set forth in the instrument and if he has reason to believe that the value or consideration has not been truly set forth in the instrument, to determine the value or consideration.