The court has wide discretion under Section 149 C. P. C. to allow late payment of proper court fee, but this discretion should be exercised judiciously and only in cases where there is sufficient cause for the delay.

S. C. MOHAPATRA, J.

( 1 ) APPLICATION under Section 149 Civil Procedure Code has been registered as a Miscellaneous case which is being disposed of by this order.

( 2 ) COURT-FEE of Rs. 603/- is payable by the appellant-petitioner on the memorandum of appeal. Without paying the same, application has been filed to extend the time by four months to pay the court-fee. The relevant portion of the petition reads as follows :-1. That today the appellant is filing the appeal without court-fee. 2. That the court-fee payable on the memorandum of appeal is Rs. 603. 00 which is to be challaned from the Treasury.

( 3 ) THAT since the amount required for purchasing court-fee was not received from the concerned department in time it has not been possible to file the necessary challan in the Treasury for purchasing court-fee.

( 4 ) THAT it is necessary in the interest of justice that four months' time be granted to the appellant to file the requisite court-fee in this case. Prayer. THE appellant, therefore, prays that your Lordships would be graciously pleased to extend the time for payment of the requisite court-fee by four months and pass such other orders as your Lordships think fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case. xx xx xx xx xx3. Under Section 4 of the Court-fees Act, 1860 the memorandum of appeal is prohibited to be filed or received where the proper fee has not been paid. The language of the Section 4 in the taxing statute is mandatory. The relevant portion reads as follows :-"4. Fees on documents filed, etc. , in High Courts in their extraordinary jurisdiction. No document of any of the kinds specified in the first or second schedule to this Act annexed, as chargeable with fees, shall be filed, exhibited or recorded in, or shall be received or furnished by, any of the said High Court in any case coming before such court in the exercise of its extraordinary original civil jurisdiction, or xx xx xx xx xx in their appellate jurisdiction - xx xx xx xx or in the exercise of its jurisdiction as regards appeals from the Courts subject to its superintendence; xxx xxx xxx unless in respect of such document there be paid a fee of an amount not less than that indicated by either of the said schedules as the proper fee for such document. "4. The provision being in a taxing statute is to be interpreted strictly. Equity has no place in taxing statutes. To mitigate the rigour, Section 149 C. P. C. has been enacted which has the effect of being a proviso to Section 4. Therefore, both the provisions are to be read harmoniously. See AIR 1971 SC 1374 Mannan Lal v. Mist. Chhotka Bibi.

( 5 ) THE language of Section 149 C. P. C. makes it clear that permission by the court to pay the proper fee later is discretionary. On mere asking for the same by the defaulting litigant, Court would not allow to pay the same. Court is to be satisfied that there was sufficient cause for non-payment of the proper fee. Section 149 C. P. C. reads as follows :-"149. Where the whole or any part of any fee prescribed for any document by the law for the time being in force relating to court-fees has not been paid, the Court may, in its discretion, at any stage, allow the person, by whom such fee is payable, to pay the whole or part, as the case may be, of such Court-fee, and upon such payment the document, in respect of which such fee is payable, shall have the same force and effect as if such fee had been paid in the first instance. "

( 6 ) THE language of the Section 149 C. P. C. makes it clear that wide discretion has been vested in the Court to allow late payment of proper fee. However, wider the discretion, greater is the restraint. Therefore, while considering to exercise the discretion, court is to examine the conduct of the litigant. In AIR 1922 Pat 56 (1) Deonath Sahai v. Radha Kanta Prasad while construing Section 6 of the Court-fees Act which is similar in language of Section 4 it was held that the Legislature did not intend that time should