MADHURI DEVI Vs. PARAS NATH KESHARI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) SPEEDY disposal of cases with responsive and timely justice is the call of the day and for achieving this goal, a number of Seminars, Workshops, deliberations and discussions are being held throughout the country both at national level as also state level in order to find out the reasons, ways and means to overcome these problems.

(2.) SO far the pendency of cases in the High Courts particularly of this Court ;s concerned, according to me, one of the reasons is in the posting of inexperienced and untrained officers on the post of Section Officer, Administrative Officer and Stamp Reporter who are the part and parcel of "Administration of Justice". Those Class -II senior officers posted as Administrative Officer, Section Officers and Stamp Reporters are responsible for making the cases ready after pointing out the defects in the applications, appeals, review petitions,. etc. and also after giving report with respect to the Court fee stamp and other charges payable for such petitions/applications. Immediately after removal of defects, those cases are listed before the Bench for admission.

(3.) THE question now arises whether the Stamp Reporter rightly gave a note to call for the record for giving report with regard to Court fee payable? As noticed above, the memo of appeal was filed alongwith the certified copies of judgment and decree. In the decree, valuation of the suit is mentioned as Rs. Five lacs and since it was a partition suit, it is also mentioned in the decree that a sum at Rs. 706/ - was paid as Court fee. Despite the valuation of the suit and the Court fee payable mentioned in the decree, the Stamp Reporter gave a note that report regarding Court fee shall be made only after the lower Court record is called for. This shows that the Assistant, who is posted on promotion as a Stamp Reporter, has no elementary knowledge as to how stamp reporting is made and amount of Court fee is payable in the appeal under the Court Fees Act and Suit Valuation