KHACHERU SINGH Vs. S

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Bench has been constituted under Section 5 of the Court-fees Act, 1870 (hereinafter referred to as the principal Act) to determine the court-fee payable on a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. A petition under this Article was presented to the Court on which a court-fee of Rs. 5/- had been paid. That fee was considered insufficient by the Taxing Officer who was of opinion that as a consequence of the amendment made in the principal Act by the U. P. Court-fees (Second Amendment) Act, 1958 (U. P. Act XLIV of 1958) and the Court-fees (Uttar Pradesh Amendment) Ordinance, 1959 (U. P. Ordinance II of 1959) the proper fee was Rs. 50/-. The Ordinance has now been replaced by the Court-fees (Uttar Pradesh Amendment Act, 1959 (U. P. Act X of 1959) and the provisions of the principal Act so amended which call for consideration are Section 4 and Clause (e) of Article 1 of Schedule II. These provisions, so far as they are material, read as follows:

(2.) The argument is two-fold. It is contended, first, that the levy imposed by the amendment is not a fee but a tax and is therefore beyond the competence of the State Legislature. Secondly, it is urged that the Court when acting under Article 226 is exercising a power and not a jurisdiction and that the amendment of Section 4 of the Principal Act is ineffective to achieve its purpose.

(3.) The second of these submissions can in my opinion be disposed of shortly. "Jurisdiction" is defined in Murray's Dictionary as meaning "Power or authority in general . . . the extent or range of judicial or administrative power; the territory over which such power extends." I have no doubt that a jurisdiction is conferred on this Court by Article 226 to issue directions, orders or writs, and that it is in the exercise of that jurisdiction that it issues directions, orders and writs.