Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan, J.

1. Is a Municipality exempted from paying court fee under the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959?

2. Respondent obtained a decree for money against the appellant Municipality. The appeal is filed without paying court fee. The Court Fee Examiner noted the appeal as defective. The appellant took the stand that the municipality is a local self government institution entitled to the benefit of S.73A of the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959, hereinafter referred to as the “C.F. Act” and hence no court fee is chargeable on the appeal. The Registry notices that no autonomous body/statutory body or even the Central Government is exempted from payment of court fee even in terms of S.73A. It made reference to the decisions in this regard in Project Officer v. Smitha (2003 (1) KLT 587) and Kerala Water Authority v. Valsan (2003 (1) KLT 971) relating to Kerala Water Authority, Chief Project Manager v. Aji Kurian (2003 (3) KLT 56) relating to central Government. The file is accordingly placed for determination of that issue.

The learned senior counsel appearing for the appellant-municipality argued that in terms of S.73A of the C.F. Act, the word “Government” should be understood to include a Municipality in the light of Article 243Q of the Constitution and the judgment of the Apex Court in Cantonment Board, Secunderabad v. G. Venketram Reddy ((1995) 4 SCC 561), Viswanatha Pillai v. State of Kerala (1997 (1) KLT 334) and Unnikrishnan v. Paravur Municipality (2008 (2) KLT 711).

3. We heard the learned Government Pleader also. He pointed out that the decisions referred to by the Registry apply on all fours to Municipalities also and in the absence of express exclusion being specifically made in S.73A, nothing more than what is available there could be read into. He points out that S.73A is a special provision made applicable only to matters filed by or on behalf of the Government before the court and that it does not apply to any other person.

4. Section 73A reads as follows:

“73A. Special provision regarding suits, appeals, revision etc. filed by or on behalf of the Government before the Court. – Notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of this Act, where a suit, appeal, revision, review or other pleadings or documents are filed or presented by or on behalf of the Govenrment or its officers in their official capacity before any Court, no court fee shall be chargeable in respect of such suit, appeal, revision, review or other pleadings or documents under the provisions of this Act.”

5. On the fact of it, S.73A is a special provision. It applies to suits, appeals, revisions etc. filed by or on behalf of the Government before the Court. S.73A opens with a non obstante clause, operating notwithstanding anything contained in any other provisions of the C.F. Act. It is a self-contained provision.

6. The word “Government” is not defined in the C.F. Act. S.3(4) of the CF Act provides that unless the context otherwise requires, the expressions used and not defined in that Act or in the Interpretation and General Clauses Act, 1125 (Act VII of 1125), but defined in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Central Act V of 1908), shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the said Code. This means that in the absence of any definition in the CF Act for an expression, it has to be searched for, firstly, in the General Clauses Act, 1125, Act VII of 1125, as it originally stood, was the Travancore-Cochin Interpretation and General Clauses Act, 1125 enacted by the Legislature of the United State of Travancore and Cochin. That was amended by Act 3 of 1957 and the words “Travancore-Cochin” in the title to the Act were substituted by the word “the Kerala”. S.3(15) of that Act, among other things, states, in sub-clause (c) thereof, that “Government”, “the Government” or “State Government”, as respects anything done or to be done after the commencement of the Constit