SUBRAN BIBI Vs. KULSAM BIBI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a court-fee reference before me as the Taxing Judge on a reference made by the Taxing Officer (Registrar of this Court). The question that has been raised on the reference is whether in this case the proper court-fee leviable on the plaint, on the memorandum of appeal in the lower appellate Court as also in this second appeal should be the fixed court-fee under Article 17-A, Schedule II of the Court-Fees Act or ad valorem court-fee payable under Section 7(iv) (c) of the Act.

(2.) THE determination of proper court-fee depends on the real nature of the suit. THE scrutiny ought to be very cautious. THE Court is not to import into the plaint anything which it does not really contain, either actually or by necessary implication. That is to say, the Court is to take the plaint as it is and not as it may think it ought to have been in the way that the relief, not asked for deliberately, and the plaintiff takes the risk in that behalf cannot be imported into the plaint. THE court must take care not to be misled by the dexterity or skill of draftsmanship of the pleading and must always go deeper in order to scrutinise what is the real nature of the suit.