SANSAR CHAND Vs. RAM LALL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A common question of law arises in these two Civil Revision Petitions Nos. 390 and 891 of 1956. They are between different parties but they are taken together because of the common question of law arising in them.

(2.) EACH was a case to enforce a right of preemption. The defendant vendee in each case, apart from defending the suit on other grounds, has claimed value of improvements after sale and before the institution of the suit and the trial Court has in the case of Civil Revision No. 390 of 1956 found the value of the improvements to be Rs. 8,000/- and in the case of Civil Revision No. 391 of 1956 to be Rs. 10,000/ -. The question as to the correctness of that find-Ing in each case on merits is not involved in these revision petitions. In each case the learned trial judge has demanded' court-fee from the plaintiff on the amount of the improvements. The orders were made by the Subordinate Judge of the first class, at Kaithal, on august 31, 1950. The revision petitions are directed against those orders demanding additional court-fee on the value of the improvements from the plaintiff in each case.

(3.) IN the matter of court-fee in a pre-emption suit Section 7 (vi) of the Court-fees act 1870, says: "7 (vi ). in suits to enforce a right of pre-emption according to the value (computed in accordance with paragraph (v) of this section) of the land, house or garden in respect of which the right is claimed. " Paragraph (v)of Section 7 of the Act refers-to court-fee in a suit for possession of land, houses and gardens and broadly it provides that where the suit relates to land, which is paying land revenue the valuation for purposes of court-fee is to be ten times the revenue payable on such land and otherwise it is to be the market value of the land.