. 'i petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution praying that the imposition of stamp duty by the Collector of Government of Sitapur, of Rs. 85,595/7/- and a penalty of Rs. 5/- was Uttar Pradesh against law and could not be realized against him and "" ors. prayed that the order be quashed. On September 12, . v. 1948, the respondent executed a wakf by oral recita- ARa1a Aohadm;;d tion of Sigha and then it was written on a stamped '"" _::. an paper which.was signed by the respondent and attes- Kapur J. ted by .witnesses. On September 15, 1948, it was • presented to the Collector for his opinion under s. 31 as to the duty chargeable. As the Collector himself was in doubt, he referred the matter to the Board of Revenue which, after a fairly long time, held that the document was liable to duty in accordance with Art. 58 of the Stamp Act. On October 29, 1951, the Collector held that Rs. 85,598/7/- were payable as stamp duty ~ and ordered that it be deposited within fifteen days. Notice to this effect was served on the respondent on November IO, 1951. Thereupon the respondent filed a petition in the High Court under Art. 226 which was dismissed on November 3, 1952 on the ground that it was premature. On February 2, 1954, a further notice was served upon the respondent to deposit the amount of the stamp duty plus the penalty of Rs. 5/- within a month otherwise proceedings would be taken against him under s. 48 of the Stamp Act. Thereafter on March l, 1944, the respondent filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the Allahabad High Court challenging the legality of the imposition of the stamp duty and the penalty and prayed for a writ of certiorari. A full bench of the High Court quashed • the order of the Collector and the State of U.P. has come in appeal to this Court.
