Power to make up deficiency of court-fees
Full Text
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-fees 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 fee is payable, shall have the same force and effect as if such fee had been paid in the first instance.
Plain English Summary
Section 149 grants courts discretionary power at any stage of litigation to permit a litigant to make up any deficiency in court-fees on plaints, appeals, or applications, and establishes that upon payment, the document is retrospectively validated as if the full court-fee had been paid on the original date of presentation.
Key Legal Elements
- Discretionary Judicial Power: Exercisable at any stage of a suit, appeal, or proceeding.
- Deficit Court Fee Rectification: Covers non-payment or partial payment of prescribed court-fees under the Court Fees Act.
- Retrospective Validation (Relation-Back Doctrine): Upon payment of deficit fees, the document has the identical force and effect as if fully stamped when first presented.
- Protection Against Limitation Bar: Prevents suits or appeals from becoming time-barred if initially filed with deficient court-fees within the limitation period.
- Harmonization with Order VII Rule 11(c): Court must grant time to supply deficient court fees before rejecting a plaint.
Practical Note
The Doctrine of Relation-Back and Rescuing Time-Barred Suits: 1. The Problem of Limitation: If the limitation period to institute a suit or appeal expires today and the litigant lacks sufficient court fees or e-stamps, Section 149 provides a vital procedural lifeline. The advocate can file the plaint or memorandum of appeal today with nominal or deficit court fees alongside an application under Section 149. 2. The Doctrine of Relation Back: Once the court exercises discretion and the litigant deposits the deficit court fees within the granted time, the payment relates back to the original date of filing. The suit or appeal is deemed to have been validly instituted within limitation! (Reaffirmed in Mannan Lal v. Chhotey Lal, AIR 1971 SC 1374). 3. Mandatory Opportunity under Order VII Rule 11(c): A trial court cannot summarily reject a plaint for deficit court fees under Order VII Rule 11(c) without first granting the plaintiff a reasonable opportunity to make up the deficiency under Section 149. 4. Bona Fide Requirement: The discretion is judicial, not automatic. Litigants who deliberately or contumaciously withhold court fees to gain unfair delay may have their Section 149 applications rejected.
हिंदी पाठ
जहां न्यायालय-फीस (Court-Fees) से संबंधित तत्समय प्रवृत्त विधि द्वारा किसी दस्तावेज के लिए विहित पूरी फीस या उसका कोई भाग नहीं दिया गया है, वहां न्यायालय, स्वविवेकानुसार, किसी भी प्रक्रम (At any stage) पर उस व्यक्ति को, जिसके द्वारा ऐसी फीस देय है, ऐसी न्यायालय-फीस का, यथास्थिति, पूरा या कोई भाग देने की अनुज्ञा दे सकेगा; और ऐसा संदाय किए जाने पर उस दस्तावेज का, जिसके संबंध में ऐसी फीस देय है, वैसा ही बल और प्रभाव होगा मानो ऐसी फीस पहली ही बार में (In the first instance) दे दी गई थी।