Telangana High Court
Smt. G.Kondamma vs The State Of Telangana on 30 September, 2020
Author: A.Rajasheker Reddy
Bench: A.Rajasheker Reddy
THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE A.RAJASHEKER REDDY
Civil Revision Petition No.1008 of 2020
ORDER:
This Civil Revision Petition is filed against order dated 07.09.2020 in OSSR No.5393 of 2020 wherein and whereby the suit filed by the petitioner for declaration of title and injunction is rejected by trial Court on the ground that it does not have jurisdiction and the Court fee is paid on Rs.12,78,000/-.
Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the objections were informed to the learned counsel for the petitioner through whatsapp call and the petitioner's counsel informed that the valuation of the suit has to be taken into account for the purpose of jurisdiction and not the valuation for the purpose of the Court fee, in spite of the same, the trial Court returned the suit.
In this case it is to be seen that the suit is valued at Rs.25,56,000/- and the Court fee is paid as per Section 24(b) of the Telangana State Court Fee Act. The trial Court erroneously took the value of the suit as Rs.12,78,000/-. Section 16(2) of the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972, reads as follows:
"(2) The pecuniary jurisdiction of a Senior Civil Judge shall extend to all like suits and proceedings of a Civil nature including Land Acquisition original petitions not otherwise exempted from his cognizance under any other law for the time being in force, the amount or value of the subject matter of which exceeds rupees three lakhs but does not exceed rupees fifteen lakhs."
The value of the suit has to be taken into account for the purpose of deciding pecuniary jurisdiction, as such, the court below has not considered the issue properly and returned the plaint. The Court below ought to have entertained the plaint and number the suit. However, even if the suit is undervalued or over valued, after number the suit in terms of Section 16(2) of the Telangana Civil Courts Act, 1972 and after appearance of the other side, can frame an issue and deal with the same.
In view of above facts and circumstances, this Civil Revision Petition is allowed and the Court below is directed to number the suit. However, this order will not preclude the Court below from going into the aspect of pecuniary jurisdiction during the course of trial.
No costs. Miscellaneous petitions, if any pending, shall stand closed.
_________________________ A.RAJASHEKER REDDY,J Dated:30-09-2020 Note: CC in two days.
B/o. kvs THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE A.RAJASHEKER REDDY C.R.P No.1008 of 2020 Date: 30-09-2020 kvs