Law: Court Fees Act (VII of 1870)

Section: 6

Law: Contract Act (IX of 1872)

Section: 176

(a) Court Fees Act (VII of 1870), S. 6 read with Sch. I, Art. 1--Memorandum of appeal-Court fee-Interest pendente lite allowed or disallowed by trial Court up to date of decree-Such interest ascertainable - Ad valorem court fee to be paid for amount of interest up to the date of appeal-Appellant claiming reduction in interest awarded by trial Court-Must pay court fee on amount of reduction claimed.   Court-fee is leviable on sums which can be ascertained with certainty but not on those which cannot. Consequently, as a general rule, court-fee on a plaint is payable on interest claimed up to the date of suit but not beyond. No court-fee, therefore, is required on account of the claim for interest from the institu tion of the suit until payment. The position, however, is quite different when once the suit has been decreed and an appeal is preferred with regard to the pendente lite interest allowed or disallowed up to the date of the decree. In such a case the claim for this interest is ascertainable and, therefore, ad valorem court- fee must be paid under Article 1, Schedule I for the amount in appeal as pendente lite interest which was allowed or disallowed by the trial Court.   Bhag Shah v. Labha Mal A I R 1933 Lah. 941 and Damodar Parshad v. Hardo Parasad A I R 1931 All. 351 ref.   Section 6 of the Court Fees Act, authorizes the levy of court fee and according, to this section no Court of justice is to entertain a document unless in respect of such a document there has been paid a fee of an amount not less than that indicated by either of the Schedule to the Act as the proper fee for such a document. Article 1 of Schedule I deals with memorandum of appeals and directs that unless it is otherwise provided for, court-fee must be paid ad valorem on the value of the subject- matter in dispute. In the case of appeals that can only mean, the dispute in appeal. Where the appellant claims that the interest awarded be reduced on calculation at the rate of 4% per annum, he must pay the court-fee on the amount by which he seeks the decree to be reduced, because the same is the subject-matter of the appeal.   Kala Ram v. Punjab National Bank A I R 1937…