BAHAL SINGH ARYA Vs. PRADESHIK CO OPERATIVE FEDERATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE memorandum of revision was presented before the Stamp Reporter on 2nd of January, 1975. Court- fee stamps of Rs. 20 were affixed on a separate sheet of paper. On that sheet of paper it was mentioned that out of the court-fee stamps of Rs. 20, court-fee stamps of Rs. 10 were meant for being affixed on the memorandum of revision, of Rs. 5 on the Vakalatnama of Rs. 3 on two judgments and of Rs. 1-50 on the formal order. The Stamp Reporter has made a report to the following effect :-

(2.) THE report of the Stamp Reporter appears to be on the basis that no court-fee stamp has been affixed on the Vakalatnama and the copies of the judgments and formal order. He has not taken the affixation of court-fee stamps of Rs. 20 on a separate sheet of paper as sufficient compliance of payment of court- fee in respect of the Vakalatnama, copies of judgments and formal order.

(3.) SECTION 3 of the Court Fees Act provides that the fees payable for the time being on documents referred to in the said section shall be collected in manner hereinafter appearing. Section 4 of the Court Fees Act provides that no document chargeable with fees shall be filed, exhibited, recorded, received or furnished in any case "unless in respect of such document there be paid a fee of an amount not less than that indicated by either of the said schedules as the proper fee for such document." Section 4, therefore, requires only payment of a fee as mentioned in the schedules. This fee is to be paid in the manner specified in Sections 25 and 26 of the Court Fees Act. Section 25 lays down that all fees referred to in Section 3 or chargeable under this Act shall be collected by stamps, whereas Section 26 provides that the stamps used to denote any fees chargeable under this Act shall be impressed or adhesive, or partly impressed and partly adhesive, as the appropriate Government may, by notification in the official Gazette from time to time direct. On a plain reading of Sections 3, 4, 25 and 26 it is apparent that what is required is that in respect of each document which is filed a fee has to be paid in the manner specified in the Act, namely by supplying impressed or adhesive court-fee stamps of the value of the fee payable in respect of that document.