The Opposition BJP staged a walkout on the sixth day of the Assembly session in protest against the increase in stamp duty by the state government.

Despite an increase in stamp duty, relief has been given to women and who will have to pay only 4 per cent stamp duty on the registration of property up to Rs 80 lakh.

Women will also have to pay stamp duty at the rate of 8 per cent on purchasing property worth more than this amount.

For men, stamp duty at the rate of 8 percent will be levied on purchasing property worth more than Rs 50 lakh.

The state government brought an amendment bill in the Assembly regarding fresh determination of stamp duty, which was passed despite resistance from the opposition.

The opposition had suggested to the government amendment in the Act, accepting which the government increased the limit of Rs 50 lakh for women on property registration to Rs 80 lakh, which means, if a property up to Rs 80 lakh is registered in the name of a woman, then she will have to pay 4 percent registry fee.

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi brought the Indian Stamp Himachal Pradesh Amendment Bill 2023 to the House on Friday, which was passed on Saturday.

The opposition opposed this stating that this is an attempt to put too much financial burden on the general public.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu informed the House about some amendments being brought in it and the Bill was adjourned till after the lunch break.

When the session resumed there was uproar in the House on the issue of passing the Bill and the opposition created a ruckus and walked out.

The Chief Minister said that the suggestion to increase the stamp duty was given by the BJP, which was accepted by the government and now they have run away from the House.

After the walkout, the opposition returned to the House.

Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi speaking on the amendment Bill said that the state has a debt of over Rs 75,000 crores and since the economic situation is not good, hence strict steps are necessary.

“It is necessary for the government to raise resources, for how long will it continue with borrowings? The state government has kept this fee at par with neighbouring state Haryana,” he said.

The Chief Minister said that in the last 10 months, such cases have come before the government in which land is being sold on the basis of power of attorney and it is important to stop such cases also.

“Giving regard to women, the government has kept the fee charges for them at 4 percent up to Rs. 80 lakhs. The government has taken this decision out of respect for women, but the opposition party BJP does not even want to respect them,” he said, adding that they are not even supporting women issues and have walked out of the House.

Earlier in the discussion on the bill, BJP MLA Randhir Sharma said that increase in stamp duty will put an additional financial burden on the people of the state.

He said that the government has brought a ten times increase, which is not right and the government should reconsider this.

He said that the registration fee on the sale or purchase of land was 4 to 6 percent, but now as per the market price, the registration fee for all above Rs 50 lakh has been increased to 8 percent, which women have also not been taken into account.

Sharma said that far from giving Rs 1500 to the women, on the other hand, more registration fees have been imposed on them, which is wrong.

Opposition leader Jai Ram Thakur said that an increase of up to 5 percent can be considered but this increase is too much.

People do not have that many sources of income, hence the government should reconsider this, keeping in mind the impact this will have on the general public.