Discuss the rules for apportionment of the consideration under Section 28 of The Indian Stamp Act 1899.

Section 28 of the Indian Stamp Act, 1899 prescribes certain rules for apportionment of the consideration, in cases of certain conveyances arising out of a property being contracted to be sold and thereafter conveyed in parts etc. Under Section 28(1) where a person contracts the sale of property as a whole and thereafter conveys to the purchaser the property in separate parts, the consideration shall be apportioned in such manner as the parties think fit, provided that a distinct consideration is set-forth for each separate part in the conveyance and thereafter the conveyances shall be chargeable with ad valorem in respect of such distinct consideration. Under Section 28(2), where the contract is for the sale of a property as a whole to two or more purchasers jointly or by any person for himself and others, and the property is conveyed to them in parts by separate conveyance, then each distinct part of the consideration shall be chargeable with ad valorem duty in respect of the distinct part of the consideration so specified. Section 28(3) covers cases where a person, after contracting to purchase a property from another and before the property has been duly conveyed to him, enters into a contract to sell the property to a third person, and the contract is given effect to only by one conveyance from the owner of the property to the sub-purchaser directly. The stamp duty payable is on the consideration paid by the sub-purchaser. This provision avoids double payment that would otherwise arise. Section 28(4) provides that where a person contracts for the sale of property and before obtaining a conveyance in his favour, enters into a contract to sell the property in parts to other persons, the conveyances which may be executed directly by the owner to each sub-purchaser would be liable to be charged with duty in respect of the consideration paid by the sub-purchaser, original price for the whole and the aggregate price paid by the sub-purchasers, subject to a minimum duty of Re. 1/- Section 28(5) provides that when a person contracts to sell a property to another person and again contracts to sell the same property to a third person and such third person obtains a conveyance first from the seller with whom he had contracted and later gets another conveyance of the same property from original seller, the duty is to be charged on the consideration received by the original seller subject to a maximum of ₹ 5/-.