BHAYA LAL Vs. EMPEROR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a reference for a decision whether a certain application filed by an advocate on behalf of a prisioner in jail is chargeable with a court-fee.

(2.) The application in question was filed by an advocate on behalf of the prisoner on 12 November 1929, and purports to be from the prisoner himself. The application runs as follows: That my counsel will be absent from Allahabad between 14 and 21 November, 1929, both days inclusive. It is prayed that the above mentioned case be not put up on the days list between the above mentioned dates.

(3.) The learned advocate, who appears on behalf of the advocate who presented the petition, has argued that the application is exempted from liability to court-fee under Section 19(17), Court-fees Act, 1870. This clause runs as follows: Petition by a prisoner or other person in duress or under restraint of any Court or its officers.