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2005 Supreme(SC) 770

Supreme Court Of India
D.M. DHARMADHIKARI AND B.N. SRIKRISHNA, JJ.
MUKTAR STEELS (P) LTD. CO. - Appellant
Versus
HIND RO-ROLLING INDUSTRIES LTD.- Respondent
Civil Appeal No. 7597 of 2004,
Decided on May 3, 2005

Headnote:

A. A.P. Court Fee and Suit Valuation Act, 1956, Section 20 - Specific Relief Act, 1963, Section 38 -Suit for permanent injunction and not for recovery of the amount- The plaint allegations that the amount which was paid by plaintiff on behalf of defendant unless returned, the defendant had no right to interfere with the possession of the property leased by him to the plaintiff- Trial court directed payment of court fee- High Court held that as no amount was sought to be recovered, no court fee was payable- High Court by mistake observed that court fee was payable- Parties in between compromised and compromise decree passed-Order passed accordingly[Para 4]

B. Civil Procedure Code, 1908 Sections 151, 152 and Order 47 Rule 1 - Inadvertent error in order of Single Judge of High Court -Single Judge of the High Court was clearly of the opinion that in the circumstances of the case no court fee was payable- However there was an inadvertent omission of word "not" in the two appropriate places - State having not been made a party nor noticed, instead of deciding itself, matter remitted back to High Court to reconsider the application under Section 151 filed by petitioner treating the same as an application under Order 47 Rule 1. [Para 3 and 4]

Order

D.M. DHARMADHIKARI, J.- This appeal arises from an order passed by c the High Court dismissing application under Section 151 CPC filed by the present appellant who was plaintiff in the suit.

2. On the basis of the plaint allegations, the trial court directed that the plaintiff is liable to pay ad valorem court fee under Section 20 of the Andhra Pradesh Fee Act, on the sum of Rs 2,97,93,310. The appellant approached the High Court by way of Civil Revision Petition No. 677 of 1999. The learned d Judge of the High Court by order made on 28-7-1999, came to the conclusion that the suit essentially being for relief of permanent injunction and not for recovery of the aforesaid amount, ad valorem court fee was not payable. The plaint allegations were taken note of in which the plaintiff merely averred that the aforesaid amount which was paid by the plaintiff on behalf of the defendant unless returned, the latter had no right to interfere with the possession of the property leased by him to the plaintiff. In the operative part of the order of the learned Single Judge, it seems, at two places, there is omission of the word "not". The relevant portion of the order of the learned Single Judge holding in favour of the appellant that ad valorem court fee was not payable on the aforesaid amount, reads thus:

"In prayer (b), what is sought for essentially is a permanent injunction. Though the relief prayed for involves peculiarly worded lengthy sentence, the plaintiff is not really seeking any decree for recovery of a sum of Rs 2,97,93,310. The plaintiff is contending that unless such amount is paid to him, the defendant has no right to interfere with the possession of the leased property. Hence it is not a claim for money. So, court fee is liable to be paid under Section 20. (In the last sentence word not seems to be an inadvertent omission.)

Coming to prayer (d), it appears that the petitioner-plaintiff deposited certain amounts during the pendency of the suit and he is only seeking leave to withdraw the same and he is not seeking any decree for money. Therefore, the court fee is liable to be paid on the amount deposited of which the petitioner seeks withdrawal. The CRP is thus allowed. No costs." (In the last but one sentence, there seems to be omission of word not between the words court fee and is liable.) (emphasis supplied)

3. We have gone through the contents of the order of the learned Single Judge and we have also seen the memo of revision petition. The prayer made by the petitioner in the revision petition against demand of ad valorem court fee on the abovementioned amount, has clearly been allowed. It is also clear from the contents of the order of the learned Single Judge (quoted above) that he has construed the pleadings in the plaint to mean that there is a mention of the aforesaid amount as having been paid by the plaintiff on behalf of the defendant and the said amount having not been returned, the plaintiff is entitled to remain in undisturbed possession of the leased property. After reading the entire order and the prayer made in the memo of revision petition, it is clear to us that the decision of the learned Single Judge is that no ad valorem court fee is payable on the aforesaid amount as no relief of recovery of the said amount has been claimed. Clearly no monetary decree has been sought by the plaintiff in the suit. In such circumstances, in the underlined portion of the order of the learned Single Judge (quoted above), there seems to be clearly omission of the word "not" in the two sentences. This mistake or omission in the order of the learned Single Judge made it necessary for the appellant to approach for necessary correction by application under Section 151 CPC to the Court. Review petition could also have been filed for the purpose but the appellant filed the application under Section 151 CPC.

4. A mention was made by the counsel appearing for the petitioner before the High Court to take up the matter for co





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