The provisions of the Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951 and the Rules framed thereunder are exhaustive as regards fees payable for issuing certified copies of orders passed under the Act, but the provisions of the Court Fees Act would come into operation so far as fees payable in respect of proceedings before the High Court are concerned.

JUDGMENT :

Narasimham, C.J. - This is a second appeal to this Court under Sub-section (2) of Section 44 of the Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Act, 1951 (Orissa Act No. 11 of 1952 hereinafter referred to as the Act) against the appellate order of the Commissioner of Hindu Religious Endowments Act passed under Sub-section (1) of Section 44 of the Act. The appeal was in the file of a single Judge of this Court (Justice G.C. Das) before whom a question arose as to whether certified copies of the orders passed under the Act by the Assistant Endowments Commissioner and the Endowments Commissioner could be validly filed before this Court without payment of the fee (some what inaccurately described as ?authentication fee?) as required by Article 9 of schedule I to the Court Fees Act. The learned single Judge has referred this question to a Division Bench for an authoritative decision.

2. Section 4 of the Court Fees Act prohibits the High Court, while exercising its appellate jurisdiction over orders passed by "courts subject to its superintendence" from receiving, or allowing to be filed or exhibited or recorded, any document of the kinds described in the First and Second Schedules to the Court Fees Act, unless the fee in respect of that document as specified in the aforesaid Schedules is paid. A Division Bench of this Court has held in Ramakrushna v. Ramachandra ILR 1958 Cutt 686 that both the Assistant Endowments Commissioner and the Endowments Commissioner while exercising powers u/s 41 and under Sub-section (1) of Section 44 of the Act respectively function as ?courts?. Article 227 of the Constitution confers on the High Courts powers of superintendence over all courts within its territorial jurisdiction. There can thus be no doubt that both the Assistant Endowments Commissioner and the Endowments Commissioner while exercising powers under the aforesaid sections of the Act, are courts subjects to the superintendence of the High Court as required by Section 4 the Court Fees Act.

3. The Appellants tiled before this Court certified copies of (1) the order passed by the Assistant Commissioner u/s 41 of the Act and (2) the order passed by the Commissioner on appeal under Sub-section (1) of Section 44 of the Act but it is admitted that the fee prescribed in Section 4 of the Court Fees Act has not been paid in respect of these copies. These have been certified to be true copies by an authorised officer in the office of the Commissioner of Religious Endowments The sole question therefore is whether notwithstanding the fact that these orders have been certified to be true copies by the competent authority this Court can refuse to allow them to be filed unless the fee indicated in Article 9 of Schedule I to the Court Fees Act is paid.

4. On behalf of the Appellants it was contended that the Act and the Rules framed thereunder (Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Rules 1959) contain exhaustive provisions as regards fees payable for issuing certified copies of orders passed under the Act and once such fees are paid and certified copies are obtained from the proper authority (they being public documents) this Court must allow the copies to be filed by virtue of Section 77 of the Evidence Act notwithstanding the provisions of Section 4 of the Court Fees Act or the fees prescribed in the First Schedule to that Act.

5. Section 77 of the Act directs the Endowments Commissioner to grant copies of proceedings under the Act on payment of the prescribed fee and further says that the copies shall be certified as true copies by the authority authorised by the Commissioner. Clause (g) of Sub-Election (2) of Section 76 of the Act confers rule making power on Government in respect of grant of certified copies and the fees to be levied thereon. Rules 51, 52, 53, 54 and 55 of the Orissa Hindu Religious Endowments Rules 1959 also contain detailed provisions for grant of certified copies on payment of the prescribed fees. Hence, if as a matter of construction it c