Jamshedpur, July 9: Krishna Bhardwaj, an engineering student of a Noida-based institute, had to buy a Rs-500 non-judicial stamp paper for an affidavit, which otherwise requires a stamp of Rs 5 only.

And he is not alone. Hundreds of people are being forced to shell out more for affidavits as stamp papers of smaller denominations — Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 20 — are in short supply in the steel city.

“People have to buy stamp papers worth Rs 50, Rs 100 and Rs 500 for affidavits, which barely require a stamp paper of Rs 5 or Rs 10. Besides, the demand for stamp papers of Rs 50 and Rs 100 is usually so less that we do not have enough stock to meet the current demand,” said a notary vendor.

Usually, stamp papers are issued once a week from the district treasury office, Jamshedpur. But the treasury has not been issuing stamps of smaller denominations for the past six months.

“I have already sent a requisition for supply of stamp papers of Rs 10 and Rs 20 to Ranchi. The consignment will reach by this month-end,” district treasury officer Kamlesh Chowdhury said.

However, he denied that there was a short supply of stamp papers of Rs 50 and Rs 100. “Every week, we circulate 4,000 to 5,000 stamp papers of Rs 50 and 100. So it’s hard to believe that such a huge stock is exhausted in a few hours,” said Chowdhury.

“We had taken up the matter with the DC and the treasury officer, but they seem to be doing precious little,” said advocate M.P. Banerjee, president of Jamshedpur Bar Association.