Court fee---Deficiency in payment---Rejection of plaint---Direction of Trial Court to make good Court fee deficiency by next date of hearing---Non-compliance by plaintiff---By it order dated 27.04.2010 ('the Order') Trial Court allowed the plaintiff time to make the Court fee deficiency good with the rider that, in case of non-payment of Court fee by the next date of hearing, the plaint would be deemed as rejected---On the next date of hearing i.e. 13.05.2010, without any request from the plaintiff the Trial Court granted the plaintiff a last opportunity to deposit the Court fee---Revisional Court , as well as the High Court , both concurrently held that the Order granting time for making good the deficiency was a conditional order and, since the order was not complied with, the plaint was deemed to have been rejected automatically and thereafter the Trial Court could not extend the time and had become functus officio---Legality---On 27.04.2010, time was allowed under Section 149, C.P.C. by the Trial Court to pay the Court fee by 13.05.2010, failing which the plaint shall be deemed to have been rejected, however on 13.05.2010, although the Court fee stood unpaid, the Trial Court extended the time for payment of Court fee without even fixing any time frame in the extension order, and that too without any oral or written request showing any plausible or sufficient cause by the plaintiff/petitioner for not complying with the Order within the stipulated timeframe---Trial Court , without considering the sanctity of its previous order in which the non-compliance of the order impacted an automatic rejection of the plaint and without enquiring or questioning the reasons for non-compliance, extended the time in a slipshod manner on its own motion without realizing the repercussions and consequences of its earlier Order---By passing a conditional order, the Trial Court had not only surrendered and abandoned its jurisdiction of enlargement of time under Section 148, C.P.C., but also closed the doors for the plaintiff in the event of non-compliance of the Order---Supreme Court deprecated practice and tendency of passing such conditional orders and directed that if any act is not complied within the time stipulated in the C.P.C. or time granted by the Court , the most appropriate legal action or step would be for the Court to take up the matter at the end of the expiry period and pass an appropriate order for non-compliance and if the party at default applies for the enlargement of time to comply with the direction(s) due to some sufficient cause(s) including force majeure circumstances which prevented compliance within time, then of course on such request the Court may further extend or enlarge time for compliance---Trial Court had passed the Order for enlargement of time with a perfunctory approach which was unjustified and unwarranted, hence the Revisional Court rightly set aside the Order and the High Court rightly maintained the same---
Enlargement of time--Rejection of plaint due to non-payment of Court fees--Power to make up deficiency of Court-fees--Court fee---Deficiency in payment---Rejection of plaint-
2024 SCMR 1059
Enlargement of time---Court , discretion of---Scope---No doubt the time allowed for doing a thing can be enlarged by the Court under Section 148, C.P.C., in its discretion from time to time, even though the period originally fixed or granted may have expired, but this discretion cannot be exercised arbitrarily, capriciously or whimsically, rather such discretion must be exercised and structured in a reasonable and judicious manner.
Kh. MUHAMMAD FAZIL VS MUMTAZ MUNNAWAR KHAN NIAZI
2024 SCMR 1059
Rejection of plaint due to non-payment of Court fees---Fresh plaint, presentation of---Permissibility---Under Order VII, Rule 13, C.P.C., the rejection of a plaint on any of the grounds mentioned in Order VII shall not of its own force preclude the plaintiff from presenting a fresh plaint in respect of the same cause of action---Meaning thereby that, where the plaint is rejected due to non-payment of Court fee and not for any other cause such as limitation, a pathway is open to the plaintiff to invoke the remedy provided under Order VII, Rule 13, C.P.C. by presenting fresh plaint within the prescribed period of limitation rather than wasting time or contesting the matter up to the Supreme Court .
Power to make up deficiency of Court-fees---Discretion of Court ---Scope---Section 149, C.P.C. is an exception to the command delineated under Sections 4 and 6 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 ("Court Fees Act")---Exercise of discretion by the Court at any stage is, as a general rule, expected to be exercised in favour of the litigant on presenting plausible reasons which may include bona fide mistake in the calculation of the Court fee; unavailability of the Court fee stamps; or any other good cause or circumstances beyond control, for allowing time to make up the deficiency of Court fee stamps on a case to case basis, and the said discretion can only be exercised where the Court is satisfied that sufficient grounds are made out for non-payment of the Court fee in the first instance.
Kh. MUHAMMAD FAZIL VS MUMTAZ MUNNAWAR KHAN NIAZI
2024 SCMR 1059
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