JAGDISH SARAN Vs. JAIDAI KUNWAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The question for determination in this revision is whether the valuation put on the relief asked for by the plaintiff, who is the applicant before us, is the correct valuation in the circumstances of the case.

(2.) It appears that there was an application for partition of zamindari property and it was opposed by the defendant on the ground that she was the owner of it and her name was recorded in the khewat. Thereupon, the applicant before us instituted the suit out of which this revision has arisen to obtain a declaration that he was the owner of the property and not the defendant. The plaintiff valued his relief, which, as we have said, was of a declaratory nature, at Rs. 400. An objection was taken to the valuation on the ground that the value of the property exceeded Rs. 4,000 and that therefore the suit was not cognizable by the Munsif in whose Court it had been instituted. The learned Munsif came to the conclusion that this objection was sound and he directed that the plaint be returned to the plaintiff for presentation to the proper Court.

(3.) The plaintiff filed an appeal before the learned District Judge who dismissed it. Thereupon, he has come before us. There is no rule which can be said to bear directly on the question before us. The argument of Mr. Seth was that he did not claim the property itself, but he claimed only a declaration with respect to the property, and therefore it was open to him to value the relief as he liked. He relied on Section 4, Suits Valuation Act, which lays down the maximum figure at which a relief is to be valued for the purposes of jurisdiction. It lays down that where a suit relates to land or an interest in land and the court-fee is paid under Schedule 2, Court-fees Act, the value of the suit shall not exceed the valuation made under the rules framed by the Local Government under Section 3 of the said Act (Suits Valuation Act). According to this rule, the valuation of the property in suit would be 30 times the land revenue, that is to say, nearly Rs. 8,000. Mr. Seth argues that all that the law says, is that he must not value the suit at more than Rupees 8,000. He argues that there is no lower limit fixed.