"Matter Of Policy, Court Won't Interfere, State May Reconsider":Madras High Court On Plea Against Increase In Court-Fees For Writ Petitions & Writ Appeals

The bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy however, asked the State that it may reconsider as to whether the quantum of increase in respect of both writ petitions and writ appeals should be so much and in a one-go.

The matter before the Court

The petitioner submitted before the Court that against previous fees payable of Rs.200/- for a writ petition and Rs.200/- for an appeal, now they have been enhanced to Rs.1,000/- and Rs.2,000/-, respectively.

The case of the writ petitioner was the costs for availing the remedy to enforce fundamental rights that are guaranteed in the Constitution should not be such as would exclude a class of persons from even availing the remedy.

It was also argued that when paltry amounts are charged for applying under Article 227 of the Constitution and for seeking bail or anticipatory bail or moving criminal appeals, the exorbitant increase in court-fees for writ petitions and writ appeals appear incongruous.

Further, the petitioner referred to the quantum of court-fees being paid in other States and Union Territories and submitted that outside Tamil Nadu, court-fees on writ petitions do not exceed Rs.500/- and in most places, the amount is Rs.200/-.

State's submission

Filing a counter-affidavit, the State submitted that a committee was appointed for the purpose of looking into the proposed fee structure across a cross-section of matters and the committee perceived the quantum of increase in respect of writ petitions and appeals to be appropriate.

It was also submitted that in certain areas, the proposed court-fees was reduced somewhat and in other areas, allowed to be retained in full or part, so that the income on account of the court-fees remains the same.

It was specifically stated that if any reduction were to be given in respect of specific matters, it would result in overall prejudice to the State as there would be less collection on account of court-fees than what was collected previously.

Court's observations

The Court, in its order, noted that since it was a matter of policy, the Court won't interfere unless it finds complete arbitrariness or the possibility of manifest injustice resulting in the exclusion of a class of citizens or court-fees being fixed at such levels that shock the conscience of the Court.

Lastly, noting that the quantum of increase appears to be significant from Rs.200/- to Rs.1,000/- and from Rs.200/- to Rs.2,000/-, the Court asked the State to reconsider the quantum of increase.

The matter has been posted for further hearing three weeks hence for the State's views to be obtained.

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