Kahan Singh vs Gurdev Singh and Others

D.K. Mahajan, J.—This is a petition for revision against the order of the Court demanding Court-fees on the value of Rs. 50,000/- in a suit for a declaration that the mortgage on the land in dispute is without consideration and is, therefore, null and void.

Mr. Puri, learned counsel for the respondents, raised a preliminary objection that no revision is competent. This objection must tail in view of the Full Bench decision of this Court in Krishan Kumar Grover v. Smt. Parmeshri Devi1.

According to the table given in Volume I, Chapter 3-D of the High Court Rules and Orders, suit to obtain a declaratory decree and order, where consequential relief is prayed for, is governed by section 7 (iv) (c) and according to the Punjab Amendment Act 26 of 1949 and Punjab Amendment Act 31 of 1953, the value of the suit for purposes of Court-fees is ad valorem on the amount of relief sought as valued and stated in the plaint or memorandum by the plaintiff. The minimum Court-fees payable is Rs. 10/-. It is also provided that when relief sought is with reference to property, such valuation would not be less than the value of the property as calculated in the manner provided in section 7 (v) of the Court-Fees Act, where the suit relates to land assessed to land revenue and the settlement is not permanent, the Court-fees is 10 times the land revenue and the jurisdiction value is 30 times the land revenue; but in a suit for declaration, both the value for purposes of jurisdiction and Court-fees have to be the same. As the value for jurisdiction is fixed at 30 times, the value for purposes of Court-fees will thus be 30 times in a suit u/s 7 (iv) (c) relating to agricultural land. That being so, the order of the Court below, that the stamp on the plaint is insufficient is correct. However, the order is erroneous in so far as the Court-fees is being claimed on the mortgaged money, that is Rs. 50,000`.

For the reasons recorded above, I modify the order of the trial Court to this extent that the advalorem Court-fees will be payable on the basis of 30 times the amount of land revenue assessed on the land. The parties are directed to appear in the trial Court on 16th of May, 1966.

Order accordingly.