The Registration Act and the Stamp Act are not in pari material. But this Directorate is to administer the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 in course of the registration of the documents under the provisions of the Registration Act. The Indian Stamp Act,1899 as amended by the Union Legislature is in force in the whole of India except the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The revenue derived from stamp duties forms a considerable part of the revenues of the states. Under the constitution, the entire proceeds of the duties are assigned to the States in which they are levied though for the sake of ensuring uniform rates of duty on the instruments of commercial nature, the power to prescribe the rates of duties on them is vested in the Union Legislature and the power to prescribe the rates of duties on other instruments is vested in the State Legislature. In West Bengal various Sections have been amended and new Sections as applicable to the State have been added. Amongst such amendments, the amendment of Section 47A for the purpose of determination of market value of properties which are the subject matter of the Instruments of gifts, partition, conveyances, exchange, settlement, transfer of lease by way of assignment, agreement relating to sale of an immovable property and in certain cases the power of attorney, is worthy to be mentioned.

There are several provisions in the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 as to :-

Stamp duties, adjudications as to stamps, Instruments not duly stamped. Allowances for stamps in certain cases, criminal offences and procedures.

Schedule 1A, as amended in West Bengal , prescribes stamp duty on certain instruments and there are, as many as, 65 articles for rates of proper stamp duties on such type of instruments.

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