Kerala High Court Asks State To Put A Hold On Its Proposal To Amend Advocate Fee Rule

The Kerala High Court has decided to request the State government hold off on its proposal to amend the Kerala Advocate Fee Rule till the Court's Rule Committee comes to a conclusion on the same.

The intimation was made through a notice issued by the Registrar General of the High Court on Friday, which came as a huge relief to the lawyering community in the State. 

The High Court had addressed a letter to the State in 2019 with a proposal to amend Rules 6, 7 and 14 of Appendix VII of the Kerala Civil Rules of Practice (Rules regarding fees payable to advocates) to limit the fees payable to advocates when the value of the claim in suits/original petitions exceeds the fixed amount.

Recently, in January 2022, the Additional Chief Secretary to Government had also written to the Chairman of Kerala Bar Council regarding the implementation of this amendment.

As per the existing Rule 6 (2)(iv), an advocate can charge 5% on the value of the subject matter beyond Rs. 50,000/-. The proposal is to limit this to 3%. Further, if the value of the subject matter exceeds Rs. 5,00,000/-, then the advocate is entitled to charge only 1% on the amount. 

Similarly, existing Rule 7 only fixes a minimum of Rs. 2,000/- and no maximum chargeable fee for appeals. However, the amendment proposed fixes the maximum chargeable fee for appeals at Rs. 50,000/-.

Lawyers across the state had raised strong protests against the proposed amendment. Members of the State Bar Council and the Kerala High Court Advocates Association had marked their protest against the same as well on 17th February.

Considering that the fee prescribed for original petitions is too low, Chief Justice S. Manikumar had placed the matter for consideration before the Rule Committee to see if the entire Rules was to be revised in accordance with the times.

The notice stated that the Rule Committee had now fixed its meeting on 22 February to consider the matter after consultation with the representatives of the Bar. 

Under such circumstances, the High Court took the decision to ask the State to put a hold on the proposal till the meeting was convened and the Committee arrived at a conclusion. 

However, it has been clarified that none of the provisions contained in the Rules will affect the agreements between an advocate and his client regarding his fees as per Rule 37. 

Click Here To Read/Download The Notice