RAJ KUMAR
Ranchi, Oct 20: A public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the state government’s Court Fee Amendment Act by the Jharkhand State Bar Council will now be heard in the Jharkhand High Court on November 9.
Jharkhand State Bar Council President Rajendra Krishna informed about the development saying that matter was deferred after the state government informed that a three-member committee has been formed to discuss the matter and its meeting is scheduled on November 3.
An advocate having an idea of the hearing in the matter said before the division bench comprising Chief Justice Dr Ravi Ranjan and Justice S N Prasad deferred the hearing it directed the state government to give information about the decision taken in the meeting through affidavit. The court also directed to give copies of the affidavit to all the advocates related to the case.
During the hearing, an application was also made for a stay on the law of increasing court fees. The court said that it will also be heard, the advocate said.
The advocate said that a three-member committee which has been formed to discuss the issue of court fee hike includes a revenue board member as its chairman while the principal secretaries of the finance and law department as its member.
The matter reached before the court after Krishna appearing in the case told the court that due to the wild increase in court fees, the poor sections of the society would not be able to come to the court and the lawyers would also have to bear the additional financial burden.
The Bar Council President also said that it will not be possible to provide easy and accessible justice to the people due to the increase in court fees. The Court Fee Act of the state government is wrong. It is against the constitution. It is also against the Central Court Fee Act.
