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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

Page 1 of 23

$~10

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI

Date of Decision: 4^thOctober, 2021

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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

RAVINDER GULATI

..... Petitioner

Through:

Ms.

Shoba

Ramamoorthy,

Mr.

J.

Thalapathy Sriram, Mr. Shilp Vinod,

Ms. Vincy George and Mr. Nawaz

Sherif, Advocates.

versus

STATE

..... Respondent

Through:

Ms.

Saumya

Tandon,

Advocate.

CORAM:

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANJEEV NARULA

JUDGMENT

[VIA HYBRID MODE]

SANJEEV NARULA, J. (Oral):

I.A. 1573/2021 (for determination of true value of the suit property for the

purpose of payment of Court fee filed by the Petitioner u/s. 151 of the

CPC, r/w Section 19H of the Court Fees Act, 1870 & Chapter 29 of the

Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018)

1.

By way of the instant application, the Petitioner seeks determination

of the ‘true value’ of the property bearing No. H-7, Maharani Bagh, New

Delhi [hereinafter referred to as, ‘the suit property’] for payment of court

fee for grant of probate of a Will dated 8^thJuly, 2008.

BRIEF FACTS

2.

Before dealing with the contentions of the parties, it is apposite to

2021:DHC:3178

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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

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briefly note the relevant facts necessary for the purpose of deciding the

instant application, which are noted below:

2.1. In order to obtain the probate certificate, the Petitioner was obliged to

pay the requisite court fees in compliance with Article 11 of Schedule I

of the Court Fees Act, 1870 [hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’] as

applicable to Delhi. In the instant case, court fee is payable at the rate

of 4% of the value of the property in respect of which the grant of

probate has been made.

2.2. A valuation report dated 14^thFebruary, 2019 was issued by the

Assistant Collector, Grade - I, Sub Division (Defence Colony), District

South-East, New Delhi, in compliance of Order dated 21^stFebruary,

2019. In terms thereof, the value of the suit property has been fixed as

Rs. 53,07,89,472/-.

2.3. The Valuation Report is based on a notification dated 22^ndSeptember,

2014 issued under Rule 4 of the Delhi Stamp (Prevention of Under

Valuation of Instruments) Rules, 2007 [hereinafter referred to as

‘Delhi Stamp Rules’], for facilitation of minimum circle rates of

valuation of land and property, issued by the revenue department of the

Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi [hereinafter

referred to as ‘GNCTD’].

2.4. Aggrieved by the aforenoted valuation, the Petitioner filed an

application before this court on 8^thNovember 2019 [being I.A. No.

15785/2019], praying for the following reliefs:

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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

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2.5. In its order dated 14th November 2019, the Court considered this

application, granted probate, and disposed of the petition. It was inter

alia observed as under:

Court in Manu Narang Vs. The Lt. Governor, Govt. of NCT of Delhi

2.6. In compliance of the aforenoted order, the Petitioner filed his own

affidavit, and also of one by Mr. Birender Prasad Singh (Approved

Valuer) and Mr. Aditya Gupta (Property Dealer).

2.7. The evidence of Mr. Ravinder Gulati was recorded on 12^thOctober,

2020, whereby, the copies of the sale deeds, another Valuation Report

dated 22^ndMay, 2018, and a letter issued by the Approved Valuer

dated 16^thDecember, 2019, were marked as exhibits.

2.8. Then on 7^thDecember, 2020, this Court disposed of I.A. No.

15785/2019 in the following terms:

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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

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2.9. In terms of the aforenoted order, Petitioner placed evidence before the

Assistant Collector comprising of the sale deeds, the valuer’s report,

and judgments of this Court.

2.10. The Assistant Collector, on consideration of the said material, passed

an order/Report dated 8th January, 2021 and rejected the contentions of

the Petitioner, by making observations to the following effect:

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TEST.CAS. 52/2018

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(sic)

3.

Ms. Shoba Ramamoorthy, counsel for the Petitioner, aggrieved by the

observations made by the Assis