UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF LEGAL STUDIES PANJAB UNIVERSITY, CHANDIGARH

SESSION: 2023-24

PROJECT REPORT OF REGISTRATION ACT AND

COURT FEE ACT

PROCESS FEE & MODE OF LEVYING PROCESS FEE

SUBMITTED BY:

KANIKA SINGH

B.A.LLB. (Hons.) –VIII

62/20; SECTION- B

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks to Prof. Priyanka who gave me the Golden
opportunity to do this wonderful project. I came to know about many new things and I am
really thankful to her.
On the very onset of this project I would like to extend my sincere and heartfelt obligation
towards all the personages who have helped me in this endeavour. Without their active
guidance, help, cooperation and encouragement I would not have been able to complete this
project. Any omission in this brief acknowledgement does not mean lack of gratitude.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

• Table of Abbreviation

• Introduction

• Definition of Court Fee

• Purpose of Court Fee

• Process Fee

• Mode of Levying Process Fee

• Conclusion

• Bibliography

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 TABLE OF ABBREVIATION

Cl. Clause

S. Section

Viz. Videlicet

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 INTRODUCTION
Levy of court fees was an entire foreign subject to ancient India. Tracing back in time to the Mughal
period and the era before it, administration of justice was considered to be the basic duty of the
Ruler as the protector and guardian of the people.
Thus, levy of charges for dissolution of any disputes between parties or parties approaching for
grievances or any civil dispute before the ruler was free. It was during the British domination in
India when the concept of court fees was brought into existence back in 1795.
Initially, the fee laid for courts was nominal but over time it gradually enhanced in order to curb the
institution of groundless and frivolous litigation that hindered and abused the process of Courts. It
was because of such factors that the Court Fess Act, 1870 was established.
A Court fee is a fee that is levied on individuals or parties that seek services of the Court for judicial
remedies. Thus, a Court fees is inflicted on the litigant to contest a case in the Court of law.

DEFINITION OF COURT FEE

Court fee may be defined as fee paid purportedly to cover administrative costs, at the start of each
new court filing. A fee (such as a “filing fee”) which may be imposed upon a litigant in order begin
a lawsuit or start a legal dispute resolution case. The fee may represent covering administrative
costs.
In India this can refer to stamps that may be attached to court documents which instruct the
payment of fees. It may also refer to collections matters.
A fee that is imposed on a litigant to contest a case in the court of law. This fee is levied by the
government on the people seeking judicial remedies through a legislation.

PURPOSE OF COURT FEE

The mere purpose of Court fees is to manage the administrative expenses incurred upon it during
the course of a case. Though justice rendered should not have a price on it but it essential to have
Court fees for the smooth and efficient functioning of the judiciary.
In the case of Secretary, Government of Madras v. Zenith Lamps1, it was held that the fees collected
by the Court are to cover the cost incurred upon it during the procedure and not for states to make
revenue out of it.

1 Secretary, Government of Madras v. Zenith Lamps (1973) 1 SCC 162

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It was further held that court fees are neither taxes nor duty. It is the correlation between the
services rendered (cost of administration of civil justice) and levy of Court fees that must exist and
not of arithmetic exactitude.

PROCESS FEE

Section 20-21

Section 20
Power of High Court to make rules.
The High Court may make rules to provide for or regulate all or any of the following matters, viz:

(a) the fees payable for serving and executing processes issued by such Court in its appellate
jurisdiction, and by the Civil and Criminal Courts established within the local limits of such
jurisdiction;

(b) the remuneration of persons employed by the Courts mentioned in cl. (a) in the service or
execution of processes;

(c) the fixing by District and Sessions Judges and District Magistrates of the number of process-
servers necessary to be employed for the service and execution of processes issued from their
respective Courts and Courts subordinate thereto; and

(d) the display in each Court of a table in the English and Vernacular languages showing the fees
payable for the service and execution of process.

All such rules shall be subject to the confirmation of the State Government and on such
confirmation, shall be published in the official Gazette, and shall thereon have effect as if enacted in
this Act.

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Section 21
Power of Chief Controlling Revenue Authority to make rules.
(1) The Chief Controlling Revenue Authority may, with the previous sanction of the State
Government, make rules consistent with this Act, to provide for or regulate all or any of the
following matters, viz:

(a) the fees chargeable for serving and executing processes issued by the Chief Controlling Revenue
Authority and by the Revenue Courts established within the local limits of its jurisdiction;

(b) the remuneration of the persons necessary to be employed for the service and execution of such
processes;

(c) the fixing by Collectors of the number of persons necessary to be employed for the service and
execution of such processes;

(d) the guidance of the Collectors, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by sub-section (iii)
of Section 19-H;

(e) the supply of stamps to be used under this Act;

(f) the number of stamps to be used for denoting any fee chargeable under this Act;

(g) the keeping of accounts of all stamps used under this Act;

(h) the circumstances in which stamps may be held to be damaged or spoiled;

(i) the circumstances in which and the manner in which, allowance for used, damaged or spoiled
stamps may be made; and

(j) the regulation of the sale of stamps to be used under this Act, the persons by whom alone such
stamps may be sold and the duties and remuneration of such persons;

Provided that, in the case of stamps used under Section 3 in a High Court, such rules shall be made
with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of such Court.

Powers of State Government to make rules. - (I-A) The State Government may make rules to carry
out generally the purposes of this Act.

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Publication of rules. - (2) All rules made under this section shall be published in the official Gazette,
and on such publication, shall have effect as if enacted in this Act.

Section 20 of Court-fees Act empowers the High Court to make rules on the following matters :-

(i) The fees chargeable for serving and executing processes issued by such court in its appellate
jurisdiction, and by the other Civil and Revenue Court established within the local limit of such
jurisdiction;

(ii) the fees chargeable for serving and executing processes issued by the Criminal Courts
established within such limits in the case of offences other than offences for which public officers
may arrest without a warrant; and

(iii) the remuneration of the peons and all other persons employed by leave of a court in the service
or execution of processes.

The High Court may from time to time alter and add to the rules so made.

All such rules and alterations and additions shall, after being confirmed by the State Government,
be published in the official Gazette and shall thereupon have the force of law.

Until such rules shall be so made and published, the fees now leviable for serving and executing
processes shall continue to be levied and shall be deemed to be fees leviable under this Act.

A table in the English and Vernacular languages showing the fees chargeable for such service and
execution shall be exposed to view in a conspicuous part of each Court. (Section 21).

Subject to rules to be made by the High Court and approved by the State Government, every
District Judge and every Magistrate of a district shall fix, and may, from time to time, alter the
number of peons necessary to be employed for the service and execution of processes issued out of
his court and each of the Courts subordinate thereto.

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 MODE OF LEVYING PROCESS FEES

Section 25-30

Section 25
Collection of fees by stamps.
All fees referred to in Section 3 or chargeable under this Act shall be collected by stamps.

Section 25A
Payment of Court fee in cash.
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in s.25 in case of temporary shortage of court-fee stamps of
required denominations, the court fee due on a document not exceeding fifty rupees, may be paid in
cash to such subordinate officer or clerk of the High Court or of the subordinate Court or of the
authority or officer receiving the document, as may be specified by such court, authority, or officer,
and such subordinate officer or clerk shall grant a receipt for the same which shall be affixed on the
document concerned, and such affixation shall have the same effect, as if the court-fee of that
amount has been duly paid in accordance with this Act.

(2) The clerk or the officer receiving the cash in lieu of the court-fee shall deposit it as revenue from
judicial stamps under the head "O-30, Stamps and Registration Fees" in the treasury or the hank, as
the case may he.

(3) The State Government may by general order make rules regarding the maintenance of accounts
of the amount so paid in cash.

(4) The rules and orders relating to punching and cancellation of court-fee stamps shall mutatis
mutandis apply in relation to the receipt referred to in sub-section (1).

(5) In the case of court-fee due on a document exceeding fifty rupees, it may, in like circumstances,
be paid in cash into the treasury (including a sub-treasury), and on such payment the officer-in-
charge of the treasury shall certify by endorsement on the document, the amount of court-fee so
paid in cash, and such endorsement shall, have same effect as if the court-fee has been duly paid in
accordance with this Act.]

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Section 26
Stamps to be impressed' or adhesive.
The stamps used to denote any Ices chargeable under this Act shall be impressed or adhesive, or
partly impressed and partly adhesive, as the Appropriate Government may, by notification in the
Official Gazette from time to time direct.

Section 27
Rules for supply, number, renewal and keeping accounts of stamps.
The Appropriate Government may, from time to time, make rules for regulating-

(a) The supply of stamps to be used under this Act;

(b) The number of stamps to be used for denoting any fee chargeable under this Act;

(c) The renewal of damaged or spoiled stamps; and

(d) The keeping accounts of all stamps used under this Act:

Provided that, in the case of stamps used under section 3 in a High Court, such rules shall be made
with the concurrence of the Chief Justice of such Court.

All such rules shall be published in the Official Gazette, and shall thereupon have the force of law.

Section 28
Stamping documents inadvertently received.
No document which ought to bear a slump under this Act shall be of any validity, unless and until it
is properly stamped.

But, if any such document is through mistake or inadvertence received, filed or used in any Court or
office without being properly stamped the presiding Judge or the head of the office, as the case may
be, or in the case of a High Court, any Judge of such Court, may, if he thinks fit, order that such
document be stamped as he may direct, and, on such document being stamped accordingly, the
same and every proceeding relative thereto shall be as valid as if it had been properly stamped in the
first instance.

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Section 28 of Court-fees Act provides :-
No document which ought to bear a stamp under this Act shall be of any validity, unless and until it
is properly stamped.

But, if any such document is through mistake or inadvertence received, filed or used in any Court or
office without being properly stamped, the presiding Judge or the head of the office, as the case may
be, or, in the case of a High Court, any Judge of such Court, may, if he thinks fit, order that such
document be stamped as he may direct; and, on such document being stamped accordingly, the
same and every proceeding relative thereto shall be as valid as if it had been properly stamped in the
first instance.

The first part of this section provides that no document which is required to be stamped shall be
used, unless it is properly stamped, and in a way supplements Sections 4 and 6 of this Act. The
second paragraph of the section is intended to empower the Court, or the Judge when such an
improperly stamped document has through mistake or inadvertence, been received, filed or used in
the Court, make an order that such document may be properly stamped in the first instance. The
section is not in conflict with Sections 9, 10 and 11 of this Act or with Section 54 (now Order 7, rule
11) of the Code of Civil Procedure. The provision of Order 7 rule 11 of the C.P.C. read with this
section clearly imply that opportunity has to be given to the party concerned to pay the proper
stamp, and it is only on his failure to do so that the Court is entitled to decline to look at the
document. But if after the mistake in the amount of court-fee paid is pointed out to him, he does not
avail of the indulgence and fails to rectify the mistake, he is not entitled to any extension of time.

The section corresponds, more or less, to Section 149 of the Civil Procedure Code which provides
that where the whole or any part of any fee prescribed for any document by the law for the time
being in force relating to court-fee has not been paid, the court may, in its discretion at any stage,
allow the person, by whom such fee is payable, to pay the whole or part, as the case may be, of such
court-fee; and upon such payment the document, in respect of which such fee is payable, shall have
the same force, and effect as it such fee had been paid in the first instance. The powers conferred on
courts under this section are wider than those in Section 28, as the words `at any stage' will indicate.
Moreover, it is to be remembered that Section 149, Civil Procedure Code applies to civil courts only
and not to criminal courts.

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This section applies only where an insufficiently stamped document has been received through
mistake or inadvertence. But where there is no question of such mistake or inadvertence, it has no
application. So where, owing to the existence of plague, the plaintiff was unable either to procure a
court-fee stamp or to present the plaint in person, as he was restrained from going beyond certain
limits under executive orders, and he sent the plaint unstamped and put in the requisite court-fee
stamps on the removal of restrictions, but after the expiry of the period of limitation, it was held that
Section 28 was not applicable to the circumstances of the case. Again, Section 28 does not apply to
probate duty the reason being that it would be highly impracticable to make the validity of
testamentary grants depend on the question as to the sufficiency of the stamp.

Section 29
Amended document.
Where any such document is amended in order merely to correct a mistake and to make it conform
to the original intention of the parties, it shall not be necessary to impose a fresh stamp.

Section 30
Cancellation of stamp.
No document requiring a stamp under this Act shall be filed or acted upon in any proceeding in any
Court or office until the stamp has been cancelled.

Such officer as the Court or the head of the office may from time to time appoint shall, on receiving
any such document, forthwith effect such cancellation by punching out the figure- head so as to
leave the amount designated on the stamps untouched, and the part removed by punching shall be
burnt or otherwise destroyed.

This section provides for cancellation of stamp filed in any proceeding in any court of office, and
also the procedure to be followed in such cancellation. The court or head of office has been
empowered to appoint from time to time such officer who will effect such cancellation. The part
removed by punching must be burnt or otherwise destroyed. The cancellation of a stamp must be
made by punching out the figurehead of the stamp but not the amount designated on the stamp. The
endorsements on the stamps of the date of issue and the purchaser's name are not a cancellation of
the stamp either in fact or in practice.

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Section-30A
Refund.
Where allowance is made in this Act for damaged or spoiled stamps or where refund is permitted on
the strength of a certificate granted by a Court, the Collector may, on the application of the holder of
the same and after satisfying himself about the genuineness of the certificate or the stamps
produced, give in lieu thereof the same amount or value in stamps of the same or any other
description or, if the applicant so desires, the same amount or value in money provided that in the
latter case a deduction shall be made of [ten naye paise] for each rupee or fraction thereof. No such
deduction shall, however, be made where refund is claimed in respect of court-fee paid in pursuance
of an order of the Court which has been varied or reversed in appeal.

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 CONCLUSION

A Court fee is levied for the purpose of managing administrative charged that is incurred by Courts
during the process of a case. A Court-fee should not be a thing that demotivates or discourages a
person from seeking justice. With the establishment of Courts a system was evolved for the
payment of fees for adjudication of the cases. It was proposed to reduce the valuation for the
computation of the fee leviable on suits relating to land under temporary settlement or land exempt
from the payment of revenue to the Government.

The law commission report of India suggests a need to fix maximum court-fees chargeable2.
In the case of Delhi High Court Bar Association v. Government of NCT of Delhi3 , the petitioners
challenged the constitutional validity of Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012. The Court
critically condemned the exorbitant Court fees charged by the Delhi government. As a result the
Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, was held unconstitutional and was struck down.

2 Report No. 220 Law commission of India, March 2009.

3 Delhi High Court Bar Association v. Government of NCT of Delhi indiankanoon.org/ ↑

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

• Court Fees Act,1870

• https://old.amu.ac.in/emp/studym/100013540.pdf

• https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/13638/1/the_court-

• fees_act1870.pdf

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