1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.8694 OF 2007 Maruti Ishwar Londhe ...Petitioner vs. 1 Abida Sharif Salema 2 Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority 3 Sandesh Madhukar Londhe ...Respondents Mr.G.S.Godbole i/b Mr.Ajay Mishra for the petitioner Mr.Anil Singh a/w Mr.Atul Singh with Mr.Ashwin R. Singh i/b Mr.D.R.Shah for respondent no.1. CORAM :A.S.OKA,J. DATE : JULY 30, 2009 P.C. 1 Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned counsel for the first respondent. This writ petition is filed for taking an exception to the Judgment and Order dated 11 th October 2007 passed by the learned Trial Judge by which preliminary issue as regards valuation of the suit for the purposes of jurisdiction and court fees has been answered against the petitioner- plaintiff. By the impugned order, the petitioner- plaintiff has been directed to apply for amendment to the paragraph 19 of the plaint in respect of the valuation of the suit property on the basis of the market value and to pay requisite court fees. The learned Judge observed that as per the section 6 (v) of the Bombay Court Fees Act, 2 1959, the suit will have to be valued in accordance with the market value of the suit premises. 2 The learned counsel for the petitioner on instructions states that though the petitioner is not accepting the correctness of the impugned order, he desires to carry out an amendment to paragraph 19 of the plaint which deals with the valuation of the suit. He has tendered a draft amendment on record which is marked `X for identification. The draft amendment has been signed by the Advocate on record for the petitioner. By the draft amendment, he wants to amend the paragraph 19 of the plaint and he wants to add a paragraph which is numbered as 19-A. 3 I see no difficulty in permitting the petitioner to carry out amendment. The order allowing the amendment will not amount to accepting the correctness of the valuation of the suit made by the petitioner by the said amendment. The learned counsel for the first respondent submits that the valuation sought to be made as per the amended paragraph is not in accordance with the provisions of law and proper valuation will be in terms of the market value. 4 As this court is permitting the petitioner to carry out amendment, the issue whether the suit has been 3 properly valued by the petitioner-plaintiff for the purposes of jurisdiction and court fees will have to be considered afresh in the light of the amended paragraph 19 and added paragraph 19A of the plaint. The court will have to consider the question whether the valuation as made by the amended paragraphs is correct. Considering the objection raised by the learned counsel for the first respondent, the trial court will have to hold an enquiry as regards the correctness of the valuation of the suit for jurisdiction and court fees and therefore, all contentions of the parties in that behalf will have to be kept open. After holding an enquiry as aforesaid, the trial court will have to record a finding accordingly on the preliminary issue which is already framed. 5 In the circumstances, the petition is disposed of by passing the following order : i) The impugned order dated 11 th October 2007 is quashed and set aside. ii)On a formal application being made by the petitioner, the trial court will permit the petitioner to carry out amendment in terms of the draft amendment which is marked `X for identification. iii)After carrying out amendment, a copy of the amended plaint shall be served to all the concerned 4 parties. iv)Trial court will permit the defendants to carry out consequential amendment to the written statement for dealing with the amendment made to the plaint. v) Thereafter, the trial court will hold an enquiry as regards the correctness of the valuation made for the purpose of jurisdiction and court fees. After holding an enquiry as contemplated by law and after hearing the parties, the trial court will answer the preliminary issue. vi)It is made clear that all contentions raised by both the parties on the issue of valuation of the suit for the purposes of jurisdiction and court fees are expressly kept open. vii)This exercise shall be completed by the trial court and an order will be passed by the trial court on or before 30 th November 2009. JUDGE