IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that the valuation of an estate in testamentary matters must be determined by the Collector, and the court fees payable are contingent upon this valuation, ensuring compliance with the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955.

ORDER :

THE HON’BLE MR.JUSTICE P.B.BALAJI

Prayer: Application has been filed under Order XIV Rule 8 read with Section 59 of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955 to direct the Collector to ascertain valuation of the estate of the deceased Valsala Menon and to direct the plaintiff to pay ad valorem Court Fee on the value so ascertained as per the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955.

The present application has been taken out by the first defendant in the testamentary original suit, seeking a direction to the Collector to ascertain the valuation of the estate of the Testatrix deceased Valsala Menon and to direct the plaintiff to pay ad valorem Court Fee on the value so ascertained in terms of the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955.

2. I have heard Mrs.Mehek Ashrani, learned counsel for the applicant/1st defendant and Mrs.Chitra Sampath, learned Senior Counsel for Mr.K.Gowtham Kumar, counsel for the first respondent/plaintiff.

3. Learned counsel for the applicant/1st defendant, Mrs.Mehek Ashrani would submit that the huge and valuable estate of the deceased has been grossly under valued at Rs.7,05,20,000/-. According to the applicant/1st defendant, the value of the estate would be approximately Rs.75,00,00,000/- and hence, the plaintiff has to be called upon to pay proper court fee upon the estate being valued by the Collector.

4. Learned counsel for the applicant/1st defendant would further submit that the court fee paid by the plaintiff post conversion of the Original Petition into a testamentary original suit is also not in line with the proviso to Article 11(k) of Schedule II of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955.

5. Per contra, learned Senior Counsel Mrs.Chitra Sampath, appearing for the the 1st respondent/plaintiff would submit that the plaintiff has never shied away from paying the court fee and the apprehensions of the applicant/1st defendant are baseless. Learned Senior Counsel would place reliance on Section 57 of Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955 and state that the said provision fully protects the applicant/1st defendant and as and when the Collector ascertains the market value and if it is found that any further court fee is payable, the plaintiff is always willing to pay the same.

6. The learned counsel for the applicant/1st defendant would place reliance on the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of R.Ramachandran vs G.Hariharan reported in 2001 (2) L.W. 318. In fact, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the 1st respondent/plaintiff also places reliance on the very same decision to fortify her contention that the issue of Court fee relates to the petitioner in the Original Petition and the revenue.

7. The learned counsel for the applicant/1st defendant would also place reliance on the decision of the Division Bench of this Court in the case of K.Vasudevan and other vs K.Rangarajan and others (O.S.A No.26 of 2019 dated 06.03.2019), where the Hon'ble Division Bench has held that when a petition for Probate or Letters of Administration gets converted into a Testamentary Original Suit, the applicant is required to pay the valuation fixed by the Collector mandatorily. The Hon'ble Division Bench has made it clear that once the Original Petition gets converted into a Testamentary Original Suit, the Registry will have to issue notices asking the applicant to pay the requisite Court fee on the valuation fixed by the District Collector. The Hon'ble Division Bench also held that Order XXV Rules 59 and 60 of the Madras High Court Original Side Rules will have to be complied with.

8. With regard to the submission of the learned Senior Counsel inviting my attention to Section 57 of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955, it is to be borne in mind that the said provision is incorporated under Chapter VI of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955, which deals with