The court has the discretion to allow the payment of court fees even if the plaint is filed without any court fee, as per Section 149 of the Code of Civil Procedure.

Sinha, C J—This application in revision is directed against the order dated 22-12-1951 passed by the Small Cause Court Judge of Amravati, refusing to register a suit on the ground that the plaint was presented without any court-fee on the last day of limitation. The Court felt helpless in the matter because it observed that if the plaint had been insufficiently stamped, it might have granted time to make good the deficiency, but as 'it had not been stamped at all there was no power in the Court to grant time to put in the necessary court-fees.

2. In my opinion, the Court below has taken too narrow a view of the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure. Under Section 149 of the Code even a plaint filed without any court-fee comes within the concession allowed by that Section. Of course, it is a matter entirely within the discretion of the Court to be exercised in the circumstances of each particular case, but the Court is not so powerless as the learned Judge below thought he was. Section 149 was a new provision introduced for the first time in 1908, because there was a difference of opinion amongst the High Courts in India whether a plaint filed without court-fees or with insufficient court-fees could be allowed to be regularized by payment of full court-fees after the period of limitation had expired. The framers of the Code accepted the views of the Calcutta, Madras and Bombay High Courts in preference to the view expressed by the Allahabad High Court, and laid it down that the Court was empowered at any stage to allow the person by whom the fees were payable to pay the whole or part of the fees, and upon such payment the document shall be deemed to have the same effect as if the fee had been paid in the first instance.

Under Rule 11 of Order 7, Code of Civil Procedure the Court is required to fix a time within which the deficiency in the Court-fees shall'' be made good. But that rule has particular reference to a plaint written on insufficiently stamped paper, but reading that rule along with the provisions of Section 149, Code of Civil Procedure it is clear that the Court is empowered to grant such time as in its discretion it may think fit to grant in order to enable the Plaintiff or the party liable to pay the court-fees to make good the requisite amount. In my opinion, therefore, this is a clear case where the Court has refused to exercise Jurisdiction vested in it by law.

3. The order is, therefore, set aside and the Court below is directed to register the plaint as a suit if the Petitioner puts in the requisite court-fees on or before 15-11-1952. If the requisite court-fees are not put in within the time allowed, this application shall stand dismissed. There will be no order for costs.

Final Result : Dismissed