Not In Position To Pay Even Rs 30? MP High Court Dismisses Homemaker's Application To Prosecute 12 Yrs Old Appeal As 'Indigent'

In a peculiar instance, the Madhya Pradesh High Court dismissed an application filed by a homemaker to prosecute an appeal against the order passed by the Railway Claims Tribunal in 2010 as an 'indigent person', noting that the court fees payable on the memorandum of appeal was merely Rs 30.

The single-judge bench of Justice Vivek Jain observed that the appellant-applicant has not demonstrated her inability to pay even the court fees of Rs 30, applicable as per the High Court Rules and Court Fees Act.

“…As per office report, the Court fees payable on the memorandum of appeal is only Rs.30/-. As per the averments of the application under Order 44 Rule 1 CPC, there is no averment that the applicant is not in a position even to pay Court fees of Rs.30/-”, the single judge bench remarked.

The appellant-woman preferred an appeal in 2012 against the award made by the Railway Claims Tribunal rejecting her claims. In 2015, a previous single-judge bench of Justice Alok Aradhe had condoned the delay and directed to list the case for admission after receiving the Claims Tribunal's records. The matter had been pending before the High Court ever since.

On 02.08.2024, Justice Vivek Jain asked the office to submit a report on the court fees payable, after receiving an application by the appellant seeking permission to prosecute the appeal as an indigent person without court fee payment.

On Tuesday, the High Court rejected her Order 44 Rule 1 CPC application. The court also clarified that the applicant should deposit Rs 30 as court fees within 15 days if she wants the appeal to be registered and listed for admission, as per the applicable rules.

The court warned that if the applicant-appellant fails to pay the said amount within 15 days, the case file will be consigned to the records room.

Advocate Vaaridhi Pathak appeared for the applicant.

Case Title: Smt. Kalabai v. Union of India & Ors.

Case No: Misc. Civil Case No. 1103 Of 2012

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (MP) 182

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