No court fees are payable on a petition to sue as an indigent person until the application for permission is granted.

JUDGMENT - Mrs Manohar. Sujata J.-The petitioner had presented a petition in forma pauper is under Order 33 of the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, on 3rd November, 1982. By this petition she had asked for permission to institute a suit as an indigent person and had asked for declarations relating to, a property known as 'Potbhare Building' and for further monetary reliefs against the respondents as set out in the petition. After the petition was filed, under the provisions of Order 33, rule 1A read with rules 212 and 213 of the High Court Rules on the original side an investigation into pauperium was started before the Prothonotary and Senior Master of this Court in order to decide whether permission should be granted to the petitioner to institute a suit in Forma Pauperis. For this purpose some meetings were held before the Prothono-tary and Senior Master and on a number of occasions investigation was-adjourned. Before the investigation could be completed the parties settled the matter and the petitioner through her advocate applied for permission to withdraw the petition. Accordingly on 27th September 1983 the petition has been allowed to be withdrawn by the petitioner.

2. The only question that that requires consideration is whether any court-fees are payable by the petitioner in these circumstances. Under Order 33, rule 8 it is provided as follows :

“8. Where the application for permission to sue as an indigent person is granted, it shall be numbered and registered, and shall be . deemed to be the plaint in the suit and the suit shall proceed in all other respects as a suit instituted in the ordinary manner, except that the plain- tiff shall not be liable to pay any court-fee or fees payable for service of process in respect of any petition, appointment of a pleader Dr other proceeding connected with the suit.”

Thus it is only after the application for permission to sue as an indigent person is granted under Order 33 that the petition is numbered and registered and is deemed to be a plaint in the suit. Till that point of time the petition is not deemed to be a suit and there can be no question of payment of court-fees on this petition on the basis that it is deemed to be a plaint. Since the petition is being withdrawn before the application for permission to sue as an indigent person is granted, there is no question of payment of any court-fee on the basis that it is a plaint.

3. A notice was given to the State and Mrs. Chougule learned coifnsel for the State who appears at the hearing of this application has submitted that in this case the petitioner took out a notice of motian dated 10th December 1982 being Notice of Motion No. 1733 of 1982. No ad interim orders were obtained on this motion and no relief has been granted on this motion. ' Nevertheless, it is submitted by Mrs. Chougule that this notice of motion was taken out in order to pressurise the respondent into settling the matter. This can be done only if the petition is treated as a suit and there-fore an order must be made asking the petitioner to gay the court-fees. In support of her submission she relied upon a decision of the Gujarat High Court in the case of (Mistry Parshottam Jinabhai v. Shah Motichand Shamji and another)1. In that case the respondents had filed a suit to recover a sum of Rs. 435,000 at the foot of mortgage executed by the appellant in favour of the respondent's. In the suit a decree was passed against the appellants for Rs. 5,35,428. The appellant went in appeal from this decision asking for a credit of Rs. 1,75,625. The appellant was allowed to file an appeal in forma pauperis. No court-fees were paid by the appellant before the filing of the appeal. Thereafter the dispute between the parties was settled and a consent decree was passed. At that point a question arose regarding payment of court-fees and it was held that in order to attract the applicability of Order 33, rule 11 it is not necessary that there should be an adjudication by the Cou

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