Stamp Duties Act 1929 · 2021 Revised Edition · Part 7 · Instruments Not Duly Stamped
52. Instruments not duly stamped inadmissible in evidence
Feedback & supportSubject to this section, an instrument chargeable with duty must not be admitted in evidence for any purpose by any person having by law or consent of parties authority to receive evidence, and must not be acted upon, registered or authenticated by any such person or by any public officer, unless the instrument is duly stamped.
Any instrument mentioned in subsection (1) must, subject to all just exceptions, be admitted in evidence on payment of the duty and the penalty (if any) chargeable in respect of that instrument under section 46.
duty
“duty” means any stamp duty for the time being chargeable under this Act or any other Act;
When a contract or agreement of any kind is effected by correspondence consisting of 2 or more letters and any one of the letters bears the proper stamp, the contract or agreement is deemed to be duly stamped.
duly stamped
“duly stamped”, as applied to an instrument chargeable with duty, means —(a)that the instrument bears an adhesive or impressed stamp of not less than the proper amount, and that stamp has been affixed in accordance with the provisions of this Act for the time being in force at the time of stamping; or(b)that the instrument, if stamped using the E‑Stamping system, has attached to it a stamp certificate issued for the instrument by the Commissioner in accordance with the provisions of this Act for the time being in force at the time of stamping;
Nothing in this section prevents the admission of any instrument in evidence —
in any criminal court; or
in any court when the instrument has been executed by or on behalf of the Government, or of any other government or country, or where it bears the certificate of the Commissioner as provided by this Act.