Summary:
Multiple petitions have been filed in the Gujarat High Court on Monday challenging a September 7 notification of the state government by way of which the government has planned to do away with physical non-judicial stamp papers from October 1 onwards. They claimed that the rule was amended without amending the Gujarat Stamps Act and therefore, it is in contravention of norms. It was also claimed that the non-availability of physical stamp papers and the government's insistence to adopt e-stamping will cause inconvenience to people. Meanwhile, the state government's counsel tried to justify the amendment in the rules claiming that it is not going to affect the licensed stamp vendors in any way. However, the petitioners contended that the new rule to put an end to physical stamp papers would drastically reduce the earnings of stamp vendors..