Court feeCourt fee It has to be paid on the plaint as framed and not as it ought to have been framed. Law of Suit Valuation in India has to be paid on the plaint as framed
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DIVISION BENCH
( Before: R. C. Lahoti, J; Brijesh Kumar, J )
KAMALESHWAR KISHORE SINGH — Appellant
Vs.
PARAS NATH SINGH AND OTHERS — Respondent
Decided on : 22-11-2001
Civil Procedure Code, 1908 (CPCCPC Code of Civil Procedure 1908 > Index to Civil Procedure > Civil Court Reference > Commercial Court Reference ) – Section 115
Counsel for Appearing Parties
Debasis Misra, NP, for the Appellant; Amitesh Kumar Advocate for Lakshmi Raman Singh, for the Respondent
JUDGMENTJudgment The statement given by the Judge on the grounds of a decree or order - CPC 2(9). It contains a concise statement of the case, points for determination, the decision thereon, and the reasons for such decision - Order 20 Rule 4(2). Section 354 of CrPC requires that every judgment shall contain points for determination, the decision thereon and the reasons for the decision. Indian Supreme Court Decisions > Law declared by Supreme Court to be binding on all courts (Art 141 Indian Constitution) Civil and judicial authorities to act in aid of the Supreme Court (Art 144) Supreme Court Network On Judiciary – Portal > Denning: “Judges do not speak, as do actors, to please. They do not speak, as do advocates, to persuade. They do not speak, as do historians, to recount the past. They speak to give Judgment. And in their judgments, you will find passages, which are worthy to rank with the greatest literature….” Law Points on Judgment Writing > The judge must write to provide an easy-to-understand analysis of the issues of law and fact which arise for decision. Judgments are primarily meant for those whose cases are decided by judges (State Bank of India and Another Vs Ajay Kumar Sood SC 2022)
1. Leave granted.
2. Kamaleshwar Kishore Singh, the appellant and his two minor sons suing through the appellant as next friend, have filed a suit for partition of movable and immovable properties registered as T.P. Suit No. 489 of 1993 in the Court of Sub-Judge-I, Patna. A perusal of the plaint shows that the parties are alleged to be members of joint HinduHindu A geographical name given by non-Hindus, who came to visit Bharatvarsha (Hindusthan). Sanatan Dharma is the actual Dharmic tradition of the Hindus. People who live in Hindusthan are Hindu, whether they Follow Islam, Chris, Buddha, Mahavira, or Nanaka. In this way, Tribals are also Hindu. Mitakshara family and the properties forming subject matter of the suit, set out in the two schedules annexed with the plaint (Schedule-I listing the immovable properties and Schedule II listing the movable properties) are alleged to be joint family properties of the parties. The source of acquisition of properties is alleged to be joint family funds. The share claimed by the plaintiffs is ’25/3 paise out of 100 paise’. The remaining shares belong to the defendants. The reliefs sought for are: (i) a preliminary decree defining plaintiffs’ share at ’25/3 paise’ in the suit properties described in Schedule I & II of the plaint, (ii) appointment of a commissioner to divide the properties by metes and bounds, and (iii) placing the plaintiffs in exclusive possession over the property falling in their share. The suit is valued at Rs.16 lakhs for the purpose of jurisdictionJurisdiction Authority by which courts receive and decide cases. Limited Jurisdiction: the authority over only particular types of cases, or cases under a prescribed amount in controversy, or seeking only certain types of relief, the District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction. Original Jurisdiction: Jurisdiction of the first court to hear a case. but according to the plaintiffs it being a simple suit for partition a fixed court fee of Rs.29.25 p. only is liable to be paid which has been affixed on the plaint.
3. It appears that the defendant No. 20 moved an application on 3.10.96 submitting that the properties exclusively belonging to her, being her self-acquired properties, as evidenceEvidence All the means by which a matter of fact, the truth of which is submitted for investigation, is established or disproved. Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Adhiniyam 2023 by the documents filed by her with the written statement, have been included in the suit for partition and so either the defendant No. 20 be deleted from the array of the parties or in the alternative the plaintiffs be directed to pay ad-valorem court fee on the market value of the properties standing in the name of this defendant amounting to Rs.30,50,000/-. By order dated 17.12.96 the trial courtTrial court Court of original Jurisdiction > the court which examines the evidences for the first time. allowed the objection petition filed by the defendant No. 20 and directed as under:-
“…the petition of defendant No. 20 dt. 3.10.96 is allowed and the plaintiffs directed to first pay ad-valorem court fee over the properties standing in the name of defendant No. 20 which were included in the suit property on the value of 10% above as given in the sale deeds of these properties the photo copy of which has been filed on behalf of the defendant No. 20. Put up on 9.1.97.”
4. After the passing of the above order, the defendant No. 20 moved yet another petition submitting that the plaintiffs should have been directed to pay ad-valorem court fee on Rs.29,39,760/-. the value of the land and the houses standing thereon, included in the suit property and that there was a typing mistake in the order dated 17.12.96 wherein the direction should have been to pay court fee on ’10 times’ of the value of the properties given in the sale deeds (filed by the defendant No. 20) and not ‘10%’ as typed in the said order. By order dated 1.3.97 the trial court directed as under:-
“…the petition of the defendant No. 20 dated 9.1.97 is allowed and the order passed by this court dated 17.12.96 is also corrected and modified and the plaintiff is directed to pay ad valorem court fee over the value of Rs.29,39,760/-. Put up on 10.5.97 for filing the same.”
5. A perusal of the above order shows the trial court having been persuaded to hold that 10 times of the value of the properties calculated on the basis of deeds filed by defendant No. 20 with her written statement comes to Rs.10,39,760/- to which should be added value of 4 storeyed constructed pucca house which is Rs.19 lacs and thus the suit should have been valued at Rs.29,39,760/- and ad-valorem court fee paid thereon by the plaintiffs.
6. Feeling aggrieved by the order dated 1.3.97 the plaintiff No. 1 filed a civil revision u/s 115 of the C.P.C. before the High CourtHigh Court High Court Judges in England and Wales handle complex and tough cases, sitting in London and traveling to court centers around the country. They preside over serious criminal and important civil cases, and support the Lord and Lady Justices in hearing appeals. High Court Judges are commonly referred to as ‘Mr/Mrs/Ms Justice surname’ and are given the prefix ‘The Honourable’. They are assigned to the King’s Bench Division, the Family Division, or the Chancery Division. The King’s Bench Division focuses on civil wrongs and judicial review, the Family Division deals with family law, and the Chancery Division handles various cases including company law and probate. Judges are appointed through a rigorous process overseen by the Judicial Appointments Commission. of Patna. The principal grievance raised by the appellant before the High Court was that the order dated 1.3.1997 was passed without affording him any opportunity of hearing and hence was liable to be set aside. By the impugned orderImpugned order Order under challenge dated 20.8.97 the High Court has dismissed the revision forming an opinionOpinion A judge's written explanation of a decision of the court. In an appeal, multiple opinions may be written. The court’s ruling comes from a majority of judges and forms the majority opinion. A dissenting opinion disagrees with the majority because of the reasoning and/or the principles of law on which the decision is based. A concurring opinion agrees with the end result of the court but offers further comment possibly because they disagree with how the court reached its conclusion. that the order dated 1.3.97 was an order directing only a clerical error to be corrected which the court was empowered to do and hence no fault could be found with the impugned order. The plaintiff has filed this petition seeking special leave to appeal.
7. In our opinion the appeal deserves to be allowed and the matter deserves to be remitted back to the High Court for decision afresh. Without going into the question whether the order dated 17.12.96 suffered from only a clerical error it is clear that the order dated 1.3.97 was in substantial departure from the order dated 17.12.96. By order dated 1.3.97 the trial court directed the plaintiffs to value the suit at 10 times of the value given in the sale deeds of the properties, the photocopies whereof were filed by the defendant No. 20 with the written statement. A reading of the order dated 1.3.97 shows that this order could not have been construed as the one correcting a clerical/typing error only; it substantially modified the earlier order dated 17.12.96 and in effect was the real order causing grievance to the plaintiffs. The order dated 1.3.1997 is not to be read in isolation. The revision filed by the plaintiff/appellant before the High Court could not have been disposed of without testing correctness of both the orders dated 17.12.1996 and 1.3.1997.
8. It is well settled that the court fee has to be paid on the plaint as framed and not on the plaint as it ought to have been framed unless by astuteness employed in drafting the plaint the plaintiff has attempted at evading payment of court fee or unless there be a provision of law requiring the plaintiff to value the suit and pay the court fee in a manner other than the one adopted by the plaintiff. The court shall being with an assumption, for the purpose of determining the court fees payable on plaint, that the averments made therein by the plaintiff are correct. Yet, an arbitrary valuation of the suit property having no basis at all for such valuation and made so as to evade payment of court fees and fixed for the purpose of conferring jurisdiction on some court which it does not have, or depriving the court of jurisdiction which it would otherwise have, can also be interfered with by the court. It is the substance of the relief sought for and not the form which will be determinative of the valuation and payment of court fee. The defence taken in the written statement may not be relevant for the purpose of deciding the payment of court fee by the plaintiff. If the plaintiff is ultimately found to have omitted to seek an essential relief which he ought to have prayed for, and without which the relief sought for in the plaint as framed and filed cannot be allowed to him, the plaintiff shall have to suffer the dismissal of the suit. These principles of law were over-looked by the trial court in passing the impugned order which was put in issue before the High Court. We are further of the opinion that though the revision preferred by the plaintiff was directed against the order dated 1.3.97, the real question arising before the High Court was to find out whether the suit was properly valued and proper court fee was paid thereon in accordance with law. While doing so if the High Court was required to examine the correctness or otherwise of the order dated 17.12.96 it should not have felt inhibited from doing so. In the facts of the present case we are clearly of the opinion that the High Court was not justified in dismissing the revision on the ground that the order dated 1.3.97 was an order correcting a clerical or typing error only.
9. The two orders of the trial court do not refer to any relevant provision of law or a binding precedent based on which the trial court was persuaded to take the view which it did.
10. The learned counsel for the defendant-respondent pointed out that during the course of argumentsArguments It is not quarreling. It can be divided into Deductive, inductive, and conductive > Functional includes include: “because”, “since”, “for”, and “as”; typical conclusion indicators include “therefore”, “thus”, “hence”, and “so”. पंच अवयव तर्कः प्रतिज्ञा हेतू उदाहरणम् निगमनम् अवयवाः > premises to conclusion or conclusion to premises to Proof something. Proof is a derivation of a conclusion from premises through a valid argument., on 17.12.1996, the plaintiff had agreed to pay the ad-valorem court fees on the properties and asked the defendant-applicant to file the deeds of the said properties in order to ascertain the valuation of the said property. What is the effect of such concession shall also be taken into consideration by the High Court and we express no opinion thereon.
11. The appeal is allowed. The impugned order of the High Court dated 20.8.97 is set aside. The Civil Revision No. 901 of 1997 shall stand restored on the file of the High Court. The High Court shall after affording the contesting parties an opportunity of hearing decide the revision afresh and expeditiously, consistently with the observation made hereinabove. A short point is arising for decision and much timeTime Where any expression of it occurs in any Rules, or any judgment, order or direction, and whenever the doing or not doing of anything at a certain time of the day or night or during a certain part of the day or night has an effect in law, that time is, unless it is otherwise specifically stated, held to be standard time as used in a particular country or state. (In Physics, time and Space never exist actually-“quantum entanglement”) has already been lost. Further the pendency of the revision has stalled progress of the suit pending before the trial Court.
Final Result: Allowed
(2001) AIRAIR All India Reporter(SCW) 4901 : (2002) AIRJharR 52 : (2002) AIR(SC) 233 : (2002) 1 ALLMR 647 : (2002) 46 ALR 730 : (2002) 1 ALT 26 : (2002) 1 BLJR 350 : (2002) 1 CalHCN 72 : (2002) 1 CivCC 389 : (2002) 1 CivilLJ 600 : (2001) 4 CTC 764 : (2002) DNJ 14 : (2002) 1 ICC 1007 : (2002) 1 JCR 306 : (2001) 10 JT 169 : (2002) 1 LJR 773 : (2002) 1 PLJ 581 : (2002) 1 PLJR 268 : (2002) 1 PLR 215 : (2002) 1 RCR(Civil) 552 : (2001) 8 SCALE 246 : (2002) 1 SCCSCC Supreme Court Cases 304 : (2001) SCRSupreme Court Reports It is the official Reporter of the reportable decisions delivered by the Supreme Court of India. It is published under the authority of the Supreme Court of India by the Controller of Publications, Government of India. 317 : (2001) 8 Supreme 358 : (2002) 1 WBLR 283 : (2002) WLC 25