Explained: Haryana’s stamp duty exemption for daughters’ children

In Haryana, the state government has recently clarified a long-standing ambiguity regarding the 100 percent stamp duty exemption on lifetime transfers of immovable property within families. The clarification now confirms that daughters' children are entitled to the same stamp duty benefit as sons' children. The confusion arose from conflicting terminology in the 2014 notification, as the English version used "grandchildren" while the Hindi version referred to "pautra-pautri," which typically denotes a son's children.

This led to local sub-registrar offices denying daughters' children the exemption. The issue did not become apparent earlier due to Haryana's traditional patriarchal property transfer patterns, where transfers were often made by parents to sons rather than daughters, and property transfers to daughters' children were even less common.

In recent years, as property prices rose and women's property rights gained more attention due to judicial decisions, the ambiguity gained prominence. Families began requesting transfers to daughters' children, prompting officials to examine the discrepancy between the English and Hindi versions of the 2014 notification. Based on legal analysis and the wording of the original notification, officials determined that daughters' children should receive the same stamp duty exemption as sons' children.

The Haryana government issued a corrigendum on August 13, correcting the Hindi version to match the English version. Women's rights activists welcomed the decision, though they emphasized that stronger measures were needed to ensure women's property rights are fully realized.