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Kochi, Oct 31 (IANS) The Kerala High Court on Friday upheld the state government’s decision to revise court fees, dismissing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) challenging the steep hike and introduction of ad valorem fees without an upper limit.
A division bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji ruled that the state legislature had the competence to amend the Kerala Court Fees and Suit Assessment Act, 1959, and the amendment was appropriate in view of inflation, depreciation of the rupee and rising expenditure on justice administration.
The bench said, “Court fees have not been revised in Kerala for more than two decades. A broad nexus between the collection of court fees and expenditure on administration of justice is necessary. Mathematical precision is not required.”
The increase proposed in the 2025-26 budget and implemented through the Kerala Finance Act, 2025 was challenged by the KHCAA as arbitrary and unconstitutional.
The association argued that the increase ranging from 400 per cent to almost 9,900 per cent would deny the poor access to justice and is a violation of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
It was also argued that the government ignored the recommendations of the Law Commission of India and the Kerala Law Reform Commission.
Rejecting these claims, the Court said that the State has relied on a number of economic indicators, including consumer price index, average wages, rupee-dollar exchange rate and gold prices, to assess the real value of money since the last amendment in 2003.
The bench also rejected KHCAA’s plea to strike down Section 73A of the Act, which exempts the state and its functionaries from paying court fees, pointing out that the same issue had been settled by a previous division bench in 2003.
–IANS
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