BHATTACHARJEE J. :- The Notifica­tion No.713/H, dated 28th September, 1964, purporting to exempt the Govern­ment from payment of court-fees has been challenged by the petitioner in this writ petition as illegal, invalid and ultra vires. The petitioner is one of the princi­pal defendants in a Civil Suit being No.25 of 1977 in the Court of the District Judge of Sikkim at Gangtok, which has been filed by the State of Sikkim as the plain­tiff for the recovery of more than Ru­pees 1 crore and has been filed on the strength of the aforesaid Notification, without any Court-fees. On a plea of de­murrer entered by the petitioner and other defendants, the learned District Judge has rejected the plaint under Order 7, Rule 11 (a), Code of Civil Pro­cedure, on the ground that the plaint does not disclose a cause of action. Against that order the State has filed an appeal before us being Civil Appeal No.3 of 1979 and that again, without Court-fees, relying on the exemption granted in favour of the State by the impugned Notification.

2. In the said Civil Appeal No.3 of 1979 before this Court the petitioner along with the other respondents has urged inter alia that the said appeal is also