S.S.SANDHAWALIA, J.

1. Whether the benefit of exemption from court-fee Co the financially weaker section of litigants) as a step in the legal aid admissible under Government notification No.S.O.1207 dt. 19th Aug. 1981 can be defeated by clubbing together of the individual incomes of the co-plaintiffs of a suit, is the significant question which has necessitated the reference of these two connected civil revisions to the Division Bench.

2. The facts are not in dispute and may be briefly noticed from SK. Mohammad Osaid and others V/s. Sk. Abdul Wahid and others (C.R.380/83). The three petitioners had preferred a title suit for a decree of possession. seeking the eviction of the defendants and for mesne profits pendente lite and other ancillary reliefs. Therein they filed a petition in the trial court seeking exemption for the payment of court-fee in the suit on the ground that the individual income of each of the co-plaintiffs did not exceed Rs. 4000.00 only and they were, therefore, entitled to the benefit of the exemption under Notification No.S.O.1207 dt. the 19th Aug. 1981. They also filed certificates of their income granted by the Anchal Adhikari, Dhaka, in support of their claim. These certificates indicated that the incomes of petitioners Nos. 1, 2 and 3 were Rs. 2700/-, Rs.2600.00 and Rs. 2500.00 only respectively. This application was, however, rejected by the learned Subordinate Judge (vide order dt. 5th of Feb. 1983) wherein he patently took the view that the incomes of all the three petitioners were to be clubbed together and since the total would come to more than Rs. 4000/-, they would not be entitled to the benefit of exemption. He accordingly directed the petitioners to file the court-fee by the 16th Feb. 1983.

3. Aggrieved thereby, the petitioners have come up by way of these civil revisions. They came up originally before my learned Brother. A.K. Sinha, J., sitting singly. Noticing that the point involved was one of great public importance, which needed an authoritative decision, the matter has been referred to the Division Bench.

4. The learned counsel for the petitioners forcefully projected his submission that the statutory provisions applicable do not warrant the clubbing of the income of all the co-plaintiffs for the purpose of giving the benefit of exemption from court-fee. It was contended that the income of the individual plaintiff alone has to be considered and the mere fact that because of the jointness of the cause of action the suit has been brought together, is irrelevant for the grant or refusal of the benefit to such exemption.

5. Herein the issue has to be inevitably examined against the backdrop of the recent development of social consciousness for providing legal aid to the traditionally weaker as also financially poorer sections of the society in order to ensure that they are not denied access to justice. The larger concept of legal aid has now come to be so well accepted that it would be unnecessary to elaborate the same, For our purpose it would suffice to mention that within this jurisdiction a statutory scheme for providing legal aid was promulgated as Bihar State Legal Aid Scheme. 1981 (hereinafter to be referred to as the "Scheme1. Para 21 Chap. VII of the Scheme in terms provides as follow :-

Persons eligible for aid "Legal aid or advice may be given to all persons who are bona fide residents of the State of Bihar and whose total annual income from all sources, whether in cash or in kind or partly in cash and partly in kind, does not exceed rupees 4,000: Provided that the limitations as to annual income shall not apply to persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and landless persons."

6. It would appear that the provision aforesaid and the Scheme were given formal legal shape by the promulgation of the Ordinance in 1982. Later on the same has been given final legislative sanction by the Bihar State Weaker Section Legal Aid Act, 1983 (hereinafter to be referre