Section 28 of the Court Fees Act 1870: Stamping Documents Inadvertently Received
Section 28 provides a curative mechanism where a document that should bear a court-fee stamp has, through mistake or inadvertence, been received, filed or used without being properly stamped. The provision allows the competent judicial or office authority to direct proper stamping, after which the document and proceedings relating to it are treated as valid as if the document had been properly stamped from the beginning.
What Section 28 means
The opening rule is that a document required to bear a stamp under the Court Fees Act is not valid unless and until it is properly stamped. The second part addresses an inadvertent deficiency. Where such a document has already been received, filed or used by mistake or inadvertence, the presiding Judge, head of the office, or, in a High Court, a Judge of that Court may direct the manner in which it is to be stamped.
Once the direction is complied with and the document is stamped accordingly, the provision gives retrospective procedural validity to the document and to proceedings relating to it, as though the proper stamp had been affixed in the first instance.
Text and effect of Section 28
Section 28 - Stamping documents inadvertently received.
No document which ought to bear a stamp under the Act is valid unless and until it is properly stamped.
Where a document is, through mistake or inadvertence, received, filed or used in a Court or office without proper stamping, the competent Judge or head of office may direct that it be stamped. On compliance, the document and proceedings relating to it become valid as if it had been properly stamped initially.
The paragraph above is a concise explanation of the statutory text. For authoritative wording, consult the official India Code text linked under Official resources.
Key requirements under Section 28
- A stamp must be legally required: the provision concerns a document that ought to bear a stamp under the Court Fees Act.
- The defect concerns proper stamping: until the required stamping is completed, the document lacks the validity contemplated by Section 28.
- The document must have entered the proceeding inadvertently: the curative power addresses a document received, filed or used through mistake or inadvertence without proper stamping.
- An authorised officer must act: the power may be exercised by the presiding Judge, the head of the office, or a High Court Judge, as applicable.
- Compliance cures the defect: once stamped as directed, the document and related proceedings receive the statutory validating effect.
Important exception: probate and letters of administration
Section 19-K of the Court Fees Act expressly provides that Sections 6 and 28 do not apply to probates or letters of administration. Accordingly, Section 28 should not be applied to those grants without considering the special statutory provisions governing probate and letters of administration.
Odisha state amendment: Section 28-A
The central compilation records an Odisha amendment inserting Section 28-A for recovery of deficient or unpaid court fees after disposal of a civil, criminal or revenue case. Broadly, where examination of the record reveals unpaid or insufficient court fee, the matter may be reported to the presiding or revenue officer, who determines the amount and the person liable, gives notice and an opportunity to show cause, and may require payment. On default, the amount may be recovered as an arrear of land revenue.
Practical significance
Section 28 prevents an inadvertent court-fee stamping defect from necessarily defeating a document or the proceedings connected with it. At the same time, it does not dispense with the obligation to pay the proper court fee. Its function is to permit the specified authority to cure an inadvertent defect by directing proper stamping and to attach statutory validity after compliance.
Related provisions
Section 27 concerns rules relating to the supply, number, renewal and accounting of stamps. Section 29 addresses an amended document where an amendment merely corrects a mistake and makes the document conform to the parties' original intention. Section 30 deals with cancellation of stamps. These provisions form part of the Act's scheme governing the mode of levying court fees.