In Brief
A woman agreed to buy property and paid stamp duty of Rs. 25,34,400 in May 2014 for a conveyance deed. She discovered the vendor had fraudulently sold the property to a third party earlier and immediately applied for refund in October 2014. A cancellation deed was executed in November 2014 after police involvement. The authorities rejected her refund claim as being beyond the six-month time limit. The Supreme Court allowed her appeal, holding that the application for refund itself was filed within six months of the stamp duty payment, and evidence can be submitted later. The Court directed refund, emphasizing that while limitation bars a remedy, it does not extinguish the right, and the State should not rely on technicalities against a bonafide victim of fraud.
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