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12. In Siddha Construction (supra), the learned single Judge has opined that for the value of the Court Fee payable by the plaintiff the averments in the plaint alone are to be considered. In the said case, it was observed that the plain- tiffs had not executed the sale deed and did not receive any sale consideration and they had not alienated the property in favour of any one. In the said case, the third defendant was the petitioner in the revision petition. The suit was filed to declare that the sale deed executed by the first defendant in favour of the third defendant was null and void. The High Court referred to the decision in Alamelu v. Manickammal4 wherein it has been held that the plaintiff is not a party to the sale deed and when he seeks only a declaration that the impugned sale deed is null and void, it is subject to the value of the suit under Section 25(d) of the Act. The learned single Judge also quoted a passage from Gnanambal Ammal v. Kannappa Pillai5 wherein it has been held:

20. In this context, we may profitably refer to the pro- nouncement of this Court in Suhrid Singh alias Sardool Singh v. Randhir Singh and others 8. In the said case, the Court referred to several elaborate prayers contained in the plaint and summarized the same. The Court took note of the fact that the issue had come before the trial court which had come to hold that prayers relating to the sale deeds amounted to seeking cancellation of the sale deeds and, therefore, ad volerem court fee was payable on the sale con- sideration in respect of the sale deeds. The said view was af- firmed in the revision. The Court addressed the core issue pertaining to court fee payable in regard to the prayer for a declaration that the sale deeds were void and not “binding on the coparcenary”, and for the consequential relief of joint possession and injunction. After referring to the provisions 8 (2010) 12 SCC 112 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 as amended in Punjab (as the controversy arose from the High Court of Punjab and Haryana), the Court held:

“Where the executant of a deed wants it to be an- nulled, he has to seek cancellation of the deed. But if a non-executant seeks annulment of a deed, he has to seek a declaration that the deed is invalid, or non est, or illegal or that it is not binding on him. The difference between a prayer for cancellation and declaration in regard to a deed of transfer/con- veyance, can be brought out by the following illus- tration relating to A and B, two brothers. A executes a sale deed in favour of C. Subsequently A wants to avoid the sale. A has to sue for cancellation of the deed. On the other hand, if B, who is not the execu- tant of the deed, wants to avoid it, he has to sue for a declaration that the deed executed by A is invalid/void and non est/illegal and he is not bound by it. In essence both may be suing to have the deed set aside or declared as non-binding. But the form is different and court fee is also different. If A, the executant of the deed, seeks cancellation of the deed, he has to pay ad valorem court fee on the con- sideration stated in the sale deed. If B, who is a non-executant, is in possession and sues for a dec- laration that the deed is null or void and does not bind him or his share, he has to merely pay a fixed court fee of Rs. 19.50 under Article 17(iii) of the Sec- ond Schedule of the Act. But if B, a non-executant, is not in possession, and he seeks not only a decla- ration that the sale deed is invalid, but also the con- sequential relief of possession, he has to pay an ad valorem court fee as provided under Section 7(iv)(c) of the Act.

21. On the basis of the aforesaid analysis, the Court opined that the view expressed by the trial court and the High Court was not justified in holding that the court fee is required to be paid on the sale consideration mentioned in the sale deeds.

22. In Shailendra Bhardwaj and others v. Chandra Pal and another9, the Court was dealing with an issue whether suit filed seeking a declaration that a will and a sale deed are void resulting in their cancellation fell under Section 7(iv-A) of the Court Fees Act, 1870 as amended by the U.P. Amend-