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TMI Blog2020 (8) TMI 566X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... The legal provisions for issue of the Pattadar Pass Book were first introduced in the Amendment Act 11/1980 to the Andhra Pradesh Record of Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Book, Act 1971. Prior to this the pahani was the most basic textual land record in Telangana prepared by the Village Revenue Officer. It did not constitute a Record of Rights, but it recorded details like the owner of the land, how they came to be in ownership of the land, mutations and tenancies - The Amendment Act 1/89 to the Andhra Pradesh Record of Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Book, Act 1971 provided for updating of Record of Rights under Section 3(1) of the Act and for the regularisation of unregistered transfers and alienations under section 5-A of the Act. Either a registered document or certificate issued from the Mandal revenue officer after paying registration fee and stamp duty is considered as document of title and on the basis of such document of title the revenue authority updates the Record of Rights. The updated information in the Record of Rights is entered in the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed. Therefore, the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not a document of title as claimed b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... appellant has filed an appeal under section 100 of the CGST Act, 2017 and KGST Act, 2017 on the following grounds. 7. Appellant was awarded a contract by the Government of Telangana through Telangana State Technology Services Ltd (hereinafter referred to as TSTS) for Secured Printing and Delivery of Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed to all Pattadars and landowners on behalf of Chief Commissioner Land Administration (hereinafter referred to as CCLA). The raw material required for the printing of Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed belongs to the appellant whereas the data/content for printing is supplied by the CCLA in electronic format. 8. Appellant submitted that this Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed (PPB cum TD) is a document in the form of a small bound book containing the details of land owned by a person (Pattadar), Photo identity of Pattadar and changes of ownership subsequent to the issue of e-PPB cum TD. This PPB cum TD is issued by Revenue Department under the Law called Record of Rights Act (RR Act). 9. Appellant submitted that the activity of printing involves both supply of goods and services which is recognized as composite supply in terms of the definition ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... fore, classification of Pattadar Passbook cum Title Deed has to be determined as per Customs Tariff Act, 1975 (CTA) and HSN. 11. Appellant submitted that the product Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed is not covered under any of the specific entries and hence its classification under Tariff Entry 4907 00 90 is appropriate. The appellant submitted the relevant portion of Chapter Heading 4907 of the CTA is extracted hereunder: Tariff Item Description of goods Unit 4907 Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognised face value; stamp-impressed paper; banknotes; cheque forms; stock, share or bond certificates and similar documents of title 490700 - Unused postage, revenue or similar stamps of current or new issue in the country in which they have, or will have, a recognised face value; stamp-impressed paper; banknotes; cheque forms; stock, share or bond certificates and similar documents of title: 4907 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... further submitted that Section 6C of the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbook Act, 1971 provides that every loan granted by any credit agency on the Security of land or crop, every encumbrance of land for the grant of a loan and every repayment of such loan shall be recorded in the pass book by the concerned officer or authority under attestation by a competent officer of the credit agency, and also made an entry of the discharge after the repayment of the loan . Therefore, appellant submitted that the Pattadar Passbooks cum title deed is essentially a book of records evidencing all transactions in the land to which the said passbook is attached to. 14. Further, Appellant submitted that as per the Section 6D(1) of the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Books Act, 1971, it is obligatory on the part of any person having interest or right in land to produce the title deed and pass book before the registering authority appointed, under the Registration Act, 1908 along with the documents he proposes to get registered and it shall be obligatory on the part of such registering authority to make entry of every transaction of sale, gift, purchase, mortgage, lease or ex ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... assbook issued under Tamil Nadu Patta Pass Book Act, 1983 held that the patta is a document of title and that the entries in patta or certified copy of entries in patta pass book shall be presumed to be true and correct until the contrary is proved or a new entry is lawfully substituted, as per Section 4 of the Act. 17. Further, in the case of Masina Sriramulu v. Pasagadagalu Pydaiah MANU/AP/0154/2011 = 2011 (2) TMI 1581 - ANDHRA PRADESH HIGH COURT the Andhra Pradesh High Court held the pattadar passbook was proof of title of the plaintiff and observed as follows in Para 37 of the judgment, Under the A.P. Records of Rights Act, the pattadar passbook and title deed are more or less the ultimate authority regarding the title of the property in respect of agricultural lands. When the Plaintiff produced the original pattadar passbook, itself it would be redundant to ask the Plaintiff to produce No. 10(1) account or the adangal or to ask the Plaintiff to prove the pattadar passbook by examining revenue official. As the first Defendant is disputing Ex. A.4, it is for the first Defendant to disprove Ex. A.4. 18. Appellant submitted that Pattadar Passbook cum Title Dee ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... -Registers, account books 4820 10 20 -Letter pads 4820 10 90 --- Other 4820 20 00 - Exercise books 4820 30 00 - Binders (other than book covers), folders and file covers 4820 40 00 - Manifold business forms and interleaved carbon sets 4820 50 00 - Albums for samples or for collections 4820 90 - Other 4820 90 10 --- Blotting paper cut to size 4820 90 90 --- Other 22. The Appellants submitted that the Chapter Heading 4820 deals with general use of stationery and therefore cannot include fiduciary documents like Pattadar passbooks cum Title Deeds. The secure documents which is used by the Government of Telangana and supplied to pattadars for recording title in land cannot be construed as articles of stationery. The Pattadar passbooks cum Title Deeds are not possible to be used by a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nce in the record of rights maintained by the Revenue Officer. In this regard, Appellant submitted that the understanding of the Authority of Advance Ruling is misplaced in as much as the Records of Rights maintained by the Mandal Revenue Officer is merely a record and not a document of title. Ideally, a document of title is the document in possession of the holder of the land, be it in the capacity of owner, tenant or otherwise. 25. In support of this Appellant relied upon the Gurunath Manohar Pavaskar and Ors. v. Nagesh Siddappa Navalgund and Ors. AIR 2008 SC 901 = 2007 (12) TMI 490 - SUPREME COURT , wherein the Hon ble Apex Court held that a revenue record is not a document of title. It merely raises a presumption in regard to possession. Presumption of possession and/or continuity thereof both forward and backward can also be raised under Section 110 of the Evidence Act. Further, Appellant submitted that in the case of State of Himachal Pradesh v. Keshav Ram and others (1996) 11 SCC 257, the Supreme Court held that the entries made in revenue record cannot form basis for declaration of title. In Corporation of the City of Bangalore v. M. Papaiah and another (1989) ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ooks Act, 1971, every pass book holder presenting a document of title deed before a registering officer appointed under the said Act, relating to a transaction in land, such as purchase or sale, mortgage, gift, lease or otherwise shall get the necessary entries in respect of such transaction recorded in the title deed and pass book by such registering officer. Therefore, the entries in the passbook are validated and entered by the registering officer himself and accordingly the Pattadar Passbooks cannot be held to be reflections of document of title and are by itself documents of title. Appellant submitted that the Authority for Advance Ruling has failed to read the provisions of Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971 in its entirety and has resorted to selective reading of the law to conclude the classification of such Pattadar Passbooks cum Title Deeds under HSN 4820. The finding of the Authority for Advance Ruling is based on incorrect appreciation of facts vis- -vis the legal position and accordingly deserves to be set aside in toto. PERSONAL HEARING 29. The appellant was called for a personal hearing on 24/12/2019 as well as on 10/01/2020 and was r ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... under section 6-A. As per Section 2(7) of the Act Pattadar means includes every person who holds land directly under the Government under a Patta whose name is registered in land revenue accounts as Pattadar and who is liable to pay land revenue. Section 2(9) defines record of right means records prepared and maintained under the provisions, or for the purposes of this Act. 32.2. Section 3 of The Telangana records of Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act 1971 reads as under:- (1) As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act in any area, there shall be prepared and brought upto-date, from time to time, by the Recording Authority in such manner, and thereafter maintained in such form, as may be prescribed, a record of rights in all lands in every village in that area and such record of rights shall contain the following particulars, namely:- (a) the names of all persons who are owners, pattadars, mortgagees, occupants or tenants of the lands; (b) the nature and extent of the respective rights or interests of such persons and the conditions or liabilities, if any, attaching thereto; (c) the rent, revenue or other amount, if any, payable by, or ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... he has reason to believe to be interested therein or affected thereby to show cause within the period specified therein as to why the amendment should not be carried out. A copy of the amendment and the notice aforesaid shall also be published in such manner as may be prescribed. (6) The Tahsildar shall have the power to correct clerical errors, if any, on the request of the Pattadar or any person interested in the land in the Pass Books as prescribed 32.5. Further Section 5-A of The Telangana records of Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act - 1971 reads as under 5-A(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, the Registration Act, 1908 or any other law for the time being in force, where a person is an occupant by virtue of an alienation or transfer made or effected otherwise than by registered document, the alienee or the transferee may, within such period as may be prescribed, apply to the Mandal Revenue Officer for a certificate declaring that such alienation or transfer is valid (2) On receipt of such application the Mandal Revenue Officer shall, after making such enquiry as may be prescribed require the alienee o ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... edure prescribed under sub-section (2) and collect the fee prescribed therefor. (2) On making such application, the Mandal Revenue Officer shall cause an enquiry to be made in such manner as may be prescribed and shall issue a title deed and pass book] in accordance with the Record of Rights with such particulars and in such form as may be prescribed: Provided that no such title deed and passbook shall be issued by the Mandal Revenue Officer unless the Record of Rights have been brought upto date. (3) The entries in the title deed and passbook may be corrected either suo-motu or on an application made to the Mandal Revenue Officer in the manner prescribed. (4) The Government may prescribe by rules the manner in which the title deed and pass book may be issued to all owners, pattadars and to such other person in accordance with the record of rights. (5) The title deed issued under sub-section (1) and duly certified by the Mandal Revenue Officer or such other authority as may be prescribed, shall be the title deed in respect of an owner pattadar and it shall have the same evidentiary value with regard to the title for the purpose of creation of equitable mort ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... details of the land owned by a person. The entries in the Pattadar Pass Book are based on the Record of Rights which is prepared in terms of the provisions of the Record of Rights in Land Act, 1971. The legal provisions for issue of the Pattadar Pass Book were first introduced in the Amendment Act 11/1980 to the Andhra Pradesh Record of Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Book, Act 1971. Prior to this the pahani was the most basic textual land record in Telangana prepared by the Village Revenue Officer. It did not constitute a Record of Rights, but it recorded details like the owner of the land, how they came to be in ownership of the land, mutations and tenancies. The Amendment Act 1/89 to the Andhra Pradesh Record of Rights in Land and Pattadar Pass Book, Act 1971 provided for updating of Record of Rights under Section 3(1) of the Act and for the regularisation of unregistered transfers and alienations under section 5-A of the Act. The said Act subsequently amended and in force in the combined State, as on 02.06.2014, has been adapted to the State of Telangana, under section 101 of the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 vide. the Telangana Adaptation of Laws Order, 2016. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... of village revenue records. Further, as per Rule 26 of the Telangana Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbook Rules,1989, the Title Deeds shall be prepared only in respect of Pattadar owners and it shall have the same evidentiary value with regard to the title for the purpose of creation of equitable mortgage under the provisions of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882 as a registered document registered by a Registrar of Assurances. The Pattadar Pass Books were given to owner-Pattadars, tenants, mortgagees, and occupants of Inam lands. The entries in the Pass Book shall be treated as sufficient evidence to grant loans without insisting on the production of copies of village revenue records. It is clear from the above provisions of law that the Pattadar Pass Book cum Title Deed only contain the information which is available in the updated Record of Rights. In other words, it is has got only evidentiary value and does not have any fiduciary value to consider it as the document of title. 36. Further Section 6B of the Telangana Records of Rights in Land and Pattadar Passbooks Act, 1971 mandates that any person effecting transaction on the land such as sale or purchase or mortgage, such ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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