JUDGMENT

VENKATACHALIAH, J.:— The point in these appeals is the recurring and vexed theme of the policy and legality of the levy of Courtfees - ad-valorem on the value or amount of the subject-matter of suits and appeals without the prescription of any upper limit - under the provisions of the Karnataka Courtfees and Suits Valuation Act, 1958 (,Karnataka Act for short). The Rajasthan Courtfees and Suits Valuation Act, 1961 (Act 23 of 1961) (,Rajasthan Act, for short) and the Bombay Courtfees Act, 1959 (,Bombay Act, for short).

So far as the ,Bombay Act, is concerned, the point raised in the concerned appeals is a limited one, confined to the question of the validity of Section 29(l) read with entry of the First- Schedule to the ,Bombay Act which, without reference to the upper limit of Courtfee of Rs. 15,000/- prescribed for all other suits and proceedings, requires payment of ad valorem Courtfee on proceedings for grants of probate and letters of administration. One of the grounds of challenge so far as this provision in the ,Bombay Act, is concerned, is the constitutional impermissibility of an unlimited exaction by way of courtfee, which is common to other appeals as well. The other contention against the validity of Section 29(l) read with Entry 10 of the First-Schedule to the Bombay Act is based on Article 14 of the Constitution on the ground of discrimination as between the proceedings for grant of Probate and Letters of Administration on the one hand and all other suits and proceedings respecting which an upper limit of Rs. 15,000/- is fixed under the statute, on the other.

2. The present batch of appeals and Special Leave Petitions comprise of a large number of cases arising under the said three statutes. We may, however, refer to the facts of some of the cases which could be taken to be typical and representative of all other cases of each group.

3. Special Leave Petition 13344 of 1988 typifies, and is representative of the appeals and Special Leave Petitions that arise out of the Rajasthan Courtfees and Suits Valuation Act, 1961. The petition arises out of and is directed against the common order dated 16th October, 1987 of the Division Bench of the Rajasthan High Court in Division Bench Civil Writ Petition No. 474 of 1984 and a large number of writ petitions involving the same question. In Writ Petition No. 474 of 1984, the present appellant The State Bank of India challenged before the High Court the constitutional validity of the provisions of Section 20 read with Article I Schedule I of the ,Rajasthan Act, which prescribed and authorised the levy of Courtfees on plaints or written-statements pleading a set-off or counter claim or memoranda of appeals presented to Courts an uniform ad valorem impost of Rs. 5/- for every hundred Rupees or part thereof on the amount or value of the subject-matter in excess of Rs. 5000/-. On the first slab of Rs. 5000/-, however, certain rates are also prescribed.

We, may, briefly, trace the course of development of the law as to Court-fee in Rajasthan. The Rajasthan Ordinance 9 of 1950, adapted and extended to the territories of Rajasthan, with effect from 1-3-1950, the Courtfees Act, 1870 (Central Act, 1870). The provisions of the Central Act, as adapted and extended to Rajasthan, were amended from time to time till 1-11-1961 when the present ,Rajasthan Act, was enacted and promulgated. Prior to 1-11-1961, as the law then stood, the levy of court-fee was subject to the maximum of Rs. 7,500/-. This ceiling was done away with under the present ,Rajasthan. Act, and court-fee ad valorem at 5 , without any upper limit, was imposed under the impugned provisions.

On 25-4-1984 the appellant-bank instituted, in the Court of District Judge, Jaipur City, a suit for recovery of a sum of Rs. 5,04,75,826/from the defendant in the suit viz., The Jaipur Spinning and Weaving Mills Ltd. The Courtfee payable on the said plaint under Section 20 read with Article I of Schedule I of the Rajasthan Act was sta