Law: Court Fee Act, 1870

Section: 7(iv-A)

  Court Fees Act (VII of 1870)--- ----S.  7(iv-A)---Suit  valuation  and  payment  of court-fee---Plaintiff in his-suit having claimed ownership of land on basis of gift deed, suit should have been valued for 'the purposes of court-fee and jurisdiction in accordance with S.7(iv-A) of Court Fees Act, 1870. Bashir Ahmad v. Mushtaq Ahmed PLD 1985 Lah. 112 ref. Khan Younus Khan for Petitioner. Ch. Muhammad Ashraf Azeem for Respondent. ORDER It is proposed to decide the Revision- Petitions Nos.950 and 951 of 1995 through this common judgment as the controversy both factual and legal is exactly the same. The petitioner filed a suit for declaration to the effect that he is the owner of agricultural land situated in village Mangowal Khurd, Tehsil Shahpur, District Sargodha. The respondents resisted the suit and then they moved an application for direction to the petitioner to make up the :deficiency in court-fee on the plaint. It was pleaded that the suit should have been valued according to the value of land mentioned in the mutation of gift. The petitioner resisted .the application. The trial Court after hearing the arguments   accepted the application vide order dated 9-4-1995 and directed the petitioner to make up the deficiency in the court-fee before 17-5-1995, the next date of hearing. The petitioner assailed this order through present revision petition, which came up for limine hearing on 21-5-1995 when the notices were issued to the respondents and in the meanwhile, status quo was ordered. The respondents have appeared and contested the petition. The learned counsel for the petitioner argued that the petitioner has impugned the order of the A.C.-I cancelling the mutation of gift in favour of the petitioner, therefore, the suit was to be valued in accordance with Article 11, Schedule II of the Court Fees Act as added by Punjab amendment. It is added that the court-fee was not payable on the- market value. On the other hand, the learned counsel for the respondents argued that as the petitioner was claiming the ownership on the basis of gift deed, therefore, the suit should have been valued for the purposes of court-fee and…