The government has decided to raise court fee in the Supreme Court.
According to highly placed sources in the Union Law Ministry, the government finds the rates of court fee, which were fixed over four decades ago way back in 1966, absurd and abysamly low.
At present Rs 250 has to be paid for filing an Special Leave Petition (SLP) (civil) as court fee in the Supreme Court while in case of a criminal SLP no court fee is required.
The government has almost finalised a bill to raise the court fee for filing a case in the Supreme Court from Rs 250 to Rs 5000.
It is likely to generate additional revenue of over Rs 30 crore, which will be used for providing better infrastructure in the court, the sources added.
The government has already initiated the process of consultation with the legal fraternity on the issue.
Rates of court fee in the High Courts, Tribunals and Subordinate Courts are also going to be announced.
There is a general impression among the masses that the higher courts are not meant for common man in view of the exorbitant fee charged by a lawyer as well as other expenses. Leading lawyers in the Supreme Court charge several lakhs of rupees for a single appearance, they stated.
The government feels that the current rate of court fee is not in tune with the current rate of inflation as well as the value of a rupee today as compared to 1966.
If the government proposal is implemented, the rates of court fee will go up at least 20 times.
At present, court fee of a Vakalatnama is only Rs 3 and for entering appearance it is Rs 5.
Higher rates of court fee will also checkmate the increasing tendency among the busy bodies to indulge in frivolous and luxury litigations.
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