The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Fake stamp papers were of smaller denomination

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Fake stamp papers were of smaller denomination

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, JULY 26. The fake stamp papers widely circulated in different parts of the country were of a denomination with a smaller face value. For, stamp papers in smaller denominations had no security features scannable with `ultraviolet lamps.'

As the only identification on stamp papers in denominations less than Rs. 10,000 are the seal and initials of the treasury officer, the Registration department believes that fake stamp papers in the denominations ranging between Rs. 200 and 5,000 (face value) were used on a ``large-scale'' in Tamil Nadu.

Security feature

Stamp papers of value above Rs. 10,000 have a built-in security feature that can be detected with `ultraviolet lamps' or `fake money detector pens.' ``It is very difficult for a layman to identify the genuineness since there is negligible or no difference in the quality of paper/printing," a top official in the Commercial Tax department told The Hindu .

Going by statistics, the consumption of stamp papers through treasuries between 1996 and 2001 was to the tune of Rs. 3,071.48 crores, out of which Rs. 3,069.42 crores was collected as stamp duty. The use of stamp papers in the Registration department was almost on a par with the sale through treasuries during these years.

``But the use of stamp papers is more in other transactions which are not presented for registration such as depositing of title deeds, power of attorney, sale/lease agreement, affidavits/declaration and chit agreements. Such documents are executed in large numbers. It is clear from the figures that the circulation of fake stamp papers was to the tune of several hundreds of crores,'' says the official.

The officials have no idea of the exact volume of fake stamp papers used in the State. ``It is not possible to quantify the use as there is no proper accounting mechanism. But the figures will be substantially high,'' confides a Registration department official.

CBI probing new angle

Highly-placed sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation said the agency was trying to ascertain why no action was taken on a confidential note sent by a senior Registration department official to the Government on purchase of stamp papers with a smaller denomination.

The official had warned against placing indents for printing stamp papers in the denominations below Rs. 10,000 in view of the Crime Branch-Crime Investigation Department unearthing fake stamp papers. The note was sent after a Statewide verification of the stock with authorised vendors during 2002.

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