Civil Revision No.1795 of 2009 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH. C.R. No.1795 of 2009 (O&M) DATE OF DECISION : 16.12.2010 Gurinder Pal Singh PETITIONER VERSUS Mandeep Kaur and others RESPONDENTS CORAM : HON'BLE MR.JUSTICE MAHESH GROVER Present:- Shri B.S.Bhalla, Advocate for the petitioner. Shri Sapan Dhir, Advocate for respondents 2 to 5. MAHESH GROVER, J. The only grievance in the instant petition is that the learned trial Court has directed the petitioner to pay ad-valorem court fee on the sale consideration of Rs.6,25,000/- coupled with the amount of Rs.7,50,000/-. Since the petitioner was not a party to the sale deeds, the declarations in the sale deeds are not binding upon him. He has thus, to pay the ad-valorem court fee on the value of the suit, and not on the sale consideration. Learned counsel for the respondents has relied upon a judgment of Civil Revision No.1795 of 2009 (O&M) -2- the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Suhrid Singh @ Sardool Singh v. Randhir Singh and others 2010(2) R.C.R. (Civil) 564, wherein in para-6 of the judgment, it has been held as follows :- “Where the executant of a deed wants it to be annulled, he has to seek cancellation of the deed. But if a non-executant seeks annulment of a deed, he has to seek a declaration that the deed is invalid, or non-est, or illegal or that it is not binding on him. The difference between a prayer for cancellation and declaration in regard to a deed of transfer/conveyance, can be brought out by the following illustration relating to 'A' and 'B” - two brothers. 'A' executes a sale deed in favour of 'C'. Subsequently 'A' wants to avoid the sale. 'A' has to sue for cancellation of the deed. On the other hand, if 'B', who is not the executant of the deed, wants to avoid it, he has to sue for a declaration that the deed executed by 'A' is invalid/void and non-est/illegal and he is not bound by it. In essence both may be suing to have the deed set aside or declared as non- binding. But the form is different and court fee is also different. If 'A', the executant of the deed, seeks cancellation of the deed, he has to pay ad-valorem Court fee on the consideration stated in the sale deed. If 'B', who is a non- executant, is in possession and sues for a declaration that the deed is null or void and does not bind him or his share, he has to merely pay a fixed court fee of Rs.19.50 under Article 17 (iii) of Second Schedule of the Act. But if 'B', a non- executant, is not in possession, and he seeks not only a declaration that the sale deed is invalid, but also the Civil Revision No.1795 of 2009 (O&M) -3- consequential relief of possessions, he has to pay an ad- valorem court fee as provided under Section 7(iv)(c) of the Act. Section 7(iv)(c) provides that in suits for a declaratory decree with consequential relief, the court fee shall be computed according to the amount at which the relief sought is valued in the plaint. The proviso thereto makes it clear that where the suit for declaratory decree with consequential relief is with reference to any property, such valuation shall not be less than the value of the property calculated in the manner provided for by clause (v) of Section 7.” While accepting this proposition, the Hon'ble Supreme Court accepted the appeals before it and directed that the payment of court fee be made in accordance with the provisions of Section 7(iv)(c) read with Section 7(v) of the Act. A perusal of the impugned order as also the provisions of Court Fee Act show that there is no ambiguity in it. The petitioner has sought a declaration that the sale deeds be declared as not binding upon him with consequential relief of possession. In view of the judgment cited above, if a person who is a non- executant and is not in possession seeks not only a declaration that the sale deed is invalid, but also the consequential relief of possession, he has to pay an ad- valorem court fee as provided under Section 7(iv)(c) of the Act. Section 7(iv)(c) of the Act provides that in suits for a declaratory decree with no consequential relief, the Court fee shall be computed according to the amount at which the relief sought is valued in the plaint and where the suit is for declaratory decree with consequential relief with reference to any property, such valuation shall not be less than the value of the property calculated in the manner provided by clause (v) Civil Revision No.1795 of 2009 (O&M) -4- of Section 7. In this view of the matter, the impugned order is set aside. The matter is remitted back to the learned trial Court to re-assess the ad-valorem court fee in accordance with the observations made above. Revision is allowed. ( MAHESH GROVER ) December 16, 2010 JUDGE GD WHETHER TO BE REFERRED TO REPORTER? YES/NO