Supreme Court Holds Fishing Rights Grant Is a Lease of Immovable Property, Upholds Stamp Duty Levy

Case Snapshot

Case Name: Zaki Ullah Khan v. State of U.P. & Ors.

Citation: 2026 INSC 788

Bench: Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Shree Chandrashekhar

Date of Judgment: July 15, 2026

Area of Law: Stamp Duty, Registration Law, Property Law, Fisheries Law

The Judgment in One Line

Right to catch fish (profit a prendre) from a water body is immovable property; a licence for more than one year is a lease attracting stamp duty.

Why This Judgment Matters

This landmark judgment reaffirms that the right to catch fish from a water body—a profit a prendre—constitutes "immovable property" under Section 3(26) of the General Clauses Act, 1897. A document granting such rights for a period exceeding one year is a "lease" within the meaning of Section 2(16) of the Indian Stamp Act and Section 17(1)(d) of the Registration Act, attracting stamp duty. The Court distinguished Farookh Ahmad, clarifying that the determination depends on the terms of the document. The judgment protects State revenue and ensures that fishing rights, like other interests in land, are properly documented and stamped.

Background

The appellant was granted a "licence for fishing" in the Sharda Sagar Jalashya, Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, for a period of three years (from September 5, 1998 to June 30, 2001). He paid auction amounts of ₹38.01 lakhs, ₹41.81 lakhs, and ₹45.99 lakhs for successive years. The document was titled "licence" rather than "lease." The Collector

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