Sampath Bank Ltd. vs. Weerasena – sllr 2005 volume 2 page 337

In the case between SAMPATH BANK LTD. and WEERASENA, the court addressed the issue of whether documents annexed to a plaint, when pleaded as part and parcel of the plaint, require separate stamping under the Environmental Statute No.8 of 1990 and relevant statutory provisions regarding stamp duty. It was held that separate stamping of such documents is not mandated when they have been incorporated as part of the plaint, thereby setting aside the trial court’s order requiring individual stamping of annexures. The holding reaffirmed the principle that annexed documents, when specifically pleaded in the plaint, are considered integral to the plaint itself and thus exempt from independent stamp duty under the applicable statutes. This conclusion was reached through statutory interpretation of