Kerala High Court Directs State To Produce Materials Relied Upon To Raise Court Fees But Refuses To Stay The Hike

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday (8th April) directed the State Government to place before it the materials it relied upon to raise the court fee.“The learned Additional Advocate General undertakes that the material which was before the Government based on which the impugned enactment was passed will be annexed to the counter reply” the bench of Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S. Manu observed.The petition was filed by the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA) protesting the 400%- 9900% hike in court fee brought into effect by the Kerala Finance Act, 2025. The Act brought certain amendments into the Kerala Court Fee and Suit Valuation Act, 1959 and the new court fee has come into effect since 1st April. The petition has challenged the exponential hike in court fee, imposition of ad-valorem fee without any upper limit and Section 73A of the Kerala Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act which exempts State from paying court fee.In the State Budget 2025, the Finance Minister had noted that it has been 2 decades since the court fee were revised and it is being done now keeping in mind inflation, demands to improve the infrastructure of the Court and to enhance the benefits of the Advocate Welfare Fund and Advocate Welfare Clerks Welfare Fund. The Association pointed out that the State has not backed its reason by any authoritative study or publicly available data. Further, there is no clarity as to the contribution that would be directed to the Welfare Fund of the advocates and the clerks.In the Budget speech, it was mentioned that inputs were taken from the Committee headed by Retired High Court Judge Sri V. K. Mohanan to revise the court fee. The association pointed out that though multiple RTIs and writs have been filed for publication of the reports of the Committee, it is still suppressed from the public. President of the Association Advocate Yeshwanth Shenoy instructed by Advocate Shinto Mathew Abraham appeared before the Court and insisted that the operation of the amendment be stayed and specifically pointed that as per the changes, even victims have to pay 1% court fee for claiming compensation. The Court however refused to allow this saying that they cannot stay a legislation without first hearing the State.The Court however agreed to the petitioner's request to direct State to release the data it relied on to enhance the court fee and directed State to submit the same. At this point, the State requested if the report could be submitted in sealed cover. This was strongly opposed by the petitioners. The Court also noting that the State could not put forward any reason why the materials should be in sealed cover, disallowed the request.The matter will be next heard on 23rd May.Case title: KERALA HIGH COURT ADVOCATES ASSOCIATION (KHCAA) v/s STATE OF KERALA & OTHERCase No: WP(PIL) 14/ 2025

Kerala High Court Directs State To Produce Materials Relied Upon To Raise Court Fees But Refuses To Stay The Hike

Manju Elsa Isac

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