( 1 ) THE memorandum of appeal in the above ease was presented before a Bench of this Court on 24-2-1950 with a stamp report that the appeal was within time till 25-2-1950 and that there was a deficiency in the court-fee paid to the extent of Rs. 295/14/ -. The amount of court-fee paid on the memorandum of appeal was Rs. 19/12/- only. Mr. Jagdish Sahai, counsel for the appellant, who filed the appeal, requested the Bench to grant one months time for making good the deficiency. As the Bench considered that the question whether time could be granted for making good the deficiency in the court-fee extending beyond the period of limitation as a matter of course or under certain circumstances only, was a question of sufficient importance to merit consideration by a larger Bench, they referred the following four questions to this Bench :

"1. Whether Section 4, Court-fees Act, is subject to, or controlled by, the provision of, and principles underlying, Section 6 (2) of that Act ?

( 2 ) WHETHER the provisions of Section 4, Court-fees Act, override the provisions of Section 149, civil P. C. , so far as the power of the High Court to extend time for making good the deficiency in court-fee is concerned ?

( 3 ) IN view of the long standing practice of this Court, should not the words "in its discretion" in section 149, Civil P. C. , continue to receive a liberal interpretation ?

( 4 ) SHOULD poverty or inability to pay full court-fee at the time of filing an appeal be regarded as a sufficient ground for the exercise of the discretion of the Court in extending time under Section 149, Civil P. C. , or under Section 6 (2), Court-fees Act, if the latter is applicable to High Courts ?"

2. The charging sections in the Court-fees Act for purposes of levying court-fee on documents in different Courts are divided into two chapters. Chapter II consisting of Sections 3-5 deals with fees in the High Courts and in the Courts of Small Causes at the Presidency towns; and Section 6 of Chap. III deals with fees in other Courts and public offices.

3. Section 3 of the Act refers to levy of fees in the High Courts in the exercise of their ordinary original civil jurisdiction and in the Courts of Small Causes at the Presidency towns. Section 4 deals with fees on documents filed in the High Courts in the exercise of their extraordinary original civil jurisdiction or extraordinary original criminal jurisdiction or in the exercise of their appellate jurisdiction or as Courts of reference and revision. Section 5 then lays down the procedure in cases of difference as to the necessity or amount of fee payable on documents filed in a High Court. If there is such a difference, the matter is to be referred to the Taxing Officer whose decision thereon shall be final, except in certain circumstances not necessary to be dealt with here. If a difference arises in any Court of Small Causes in the Presidency town, the matter is referred to the clerk of the Court whose decision shall be final except in certain circumstances. This procedure in dealing with a case of difference as to the necessity or amount of court-fee as payable on documents in the High Courts and Small Cause Courts in the Presidency towns, is different from that provided for documents to be filed in other Courts.

4. Section 6 (in Chap. III) is the charging section in this chapter and, before its amendment in U. P. laid down that no documents filed in Courts other than those mentioned in Sections 3 and 4 and in public offices shall be filed, exhibited or recorded unless proper court-fee has been paid. This section was amended in U. P. by Act II [2] of 1936, Act XIX [19] of 1938 and Act IX [9] of 1941. After the amendment it reads as follows:

"6. (1) Except in the Courts hereinbefore mentioned, no document of any of the kinds specified as chargeable in the first or second schedule to this Act annexed shall be filed, exhibited, or recorded in any Court of justice, or shall be received or furnished by