Bombay high court directs implementation of 1977 rule to remit court fees to Indian soldiers domiciled in Maharashtra; grants Rs 3L refund to retd colonel

MUMBAI: Invoking a notification issued in 1977 by Maharashtra govt, Bombay High Court held that a retired defence officer is entitled to refund of Rs 3 lakh as court fees that he paid in 2012 when he filed a suit.

The retired colonel earlier this year sought refund of the court fees, citing the 1977 rule.Maharashtra Govt Notification dated March 2, 1977, grants retired or honourably discharged Indian soldiers and their family members full exemption from paying court fees under the Court Fees Act. This applies to all documents filed, exhibited, or recorded in any civil or criminal court in Maharashtra, a retired colonel, Abhijit Kadam, submitted in his plea for a refund.

He filed in 2012 a defamation suit seeking compensation, for which he paid Rs 3 lakh as court fees.

The suit is pending.The HC single-judge bench of Justice Abhay Ahuja in his Wednesday order, made available on Thursday, said that in larger interest of Indian soldiers, to allay difficulties they face while filing court proceedings in Maharashtra, the State notification be implemented and given broad publicity by State and Centre and placed on HC website.

He also directed that HC counters where filings take place should clearly exhibit the state notification, and the clerks who handle the filing must tell the soldier that if he is domiciled in Maharashtra, then it is "not necessary to pay" the court fees when seeking to institute proceedings, of course after verifying the credentials of the Indian soldier.The 1977 notification expanded on an original Nov 11, 1965, notification the Maharashtra govt issued.

The 1965 notification invoking powers under the Bombay Court Fees Act remitted fees payable for any documents "specified in the First and Second Schedules to the Court Fees Act, which are or to be filed, exhibited or recorded in any civil or criminal court by an Indian Soldier or a member of his family."In Dec 1990, the State also issued a circular directing proper implementation of these exemptions following complaints of non-compliance.In 2013, then Justice R M Sawant also, while holding that a lieutenant colonel was entitled to refund of his court fees in a Kolhapur case, noted that "The policy of the State Govt is to cover the Indian Soldiers as a whole and not to classify the Indian Soldiers, between the persons who are in service and the persons who have retired or have been honourably discharged."Before Justice Ahuja, Kadam's advocate Pooja Shah said that an Indian Soldier means any person subject to the Army Act, 1950, the Air Force Act, 1960, or the Navy Act, 1957, who is domiciled in Maharashtra.Justice Ahuja directed the refund to the retired colonel in four weeks and posted the matter for compliance on April 29.