MALLAMPALLAI NAGAMMA Vs. MALLAMPALLI NARASIMHAM GARU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by Defendants 1 and 2 against a decree which declared the adoption of the second defendant by the first defendant, invalid. A number of questions were raised and discussed in the Court below; but as the determination of the appeal can be rested on a very short ground, we have not heard appellant's learned Counsel on the other points.

(2.) [Their Lordships, after confirming the finding of fact of the lower Court on the invalidity of the adoption, proceeded to fix the court-fees thus]

(3.) As regards to the court-fee payable upon the suit in the lower Court, we find that the plaintiffs had paid only Rs. 100 by way of court-fee. There can be little doubt that the value of the properties is more than Rs. 10,000 and that the proper method of valuation is not the method provided for in Clause (5) of Section 7 of the Court-fees Act. On general principles as also according to the decisions in Veeramma V/s. Butchayya (1926) I.L.R. 50 Mad. 646 : 52 M.L.J. 381, the value for the purposes of jurisdiction must have been fixed with reference to the market value of the properties. Under Art. 17(a)(iii) of the Court-fees Act, a fee of Rs. 500 is payable in all cases where the value of the suit for the purpose of jurisdiction is over Rs. 10,000 (see also Ramaszvami Asari, In re (1928) I.L.R. 52 Mad. 340 : 56 M.L.J. 107).