Which Law Applies For Payment Of Court Fees In Contested Application For Probate Or Letters Of Administration? Kerala High Court Answers

The Kerala High Court recently said that when an original petition is converted to a suit as contemplated under Rule 26 of the Indian Succession Rules (Kerala), 1968, the court fee has to be paid under Article 11 (k) of Schedule II of the Court Fees Act.

A trial court had earlier directed a plaintiff to pay court fees under Section 25(a) of the Act read with Article 1 Schedule I of the Court Fees Act, even after conversion of original petition to suit. However, Justice C.S. Dias said the same is incorrect and wrong.

The court said Chapter VI of the Kerala Court-Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959 deals with the manner in which court fee is to be computed and paid on applications filed for probate, letter of administration and certificate of administration.

"The above provisions clearly specify that whenever an application for the grant of probate or letters of administration is filed, the same has to be accompanied by a valuation statement of the estate in the form set forth in Part I of Schedule III of the Court Fees Act, and court fee is to be paid under Article 6 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act," it added.

However, the court added that whenever there is a contest, the court fee is to be paid under Article 11 (k) of Schedule II of the Court Fees Act.

"So, in an uncontested application falling under Section 56 of the Court Fees Act, the court fee is to be paid under Article 6 of Schedule I of the Act and in a contested application, the court fee is to be paid under Article 11 (k) of Schedule II of the Act, i.e., one half of the scale of fees prescribed under Article 1 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act".

Senior Advocate N.N. Sugunapalan and Advocate S. Sujin appeared on behalf of the petitioners. The respondents were represented by Advocates Legith T. Kottakkal and Kodoth Sreedharan. 

Case Title: K.G. Sunilkrishnan v. K.G. Premsankar 

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Ker) 655

Click Here To Read/Download The Judgment