Syed ZAHID HUSSAIN SHAH vs MUMTAZ ALI Ss — 2023 PLD 470 SUPREME-COURT

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Syed ZAHID HUSSAIN SHAH VS MUMTAZ ALI Ss. 148, 149 & O.VII, R.11---Court-fees, non-payment of---Power to make up deficiency of court-fees---Scope---Appellant's application seeking extension of time for deposit of court-fee was dismissed by the Appellate Court---Legality---Law requires that a court should first attend to the matter of court-fees---If court-fees is not paid the plaint may be rejected---Same principle also applies to memoranda of appeals---However, in the present case the Appellate Court adopted a course which the law did not provide; the Court allowed the appellant's appeal but made his decision subject to payment of court-fees within thirty days---Appellant submitted an application for enlargement of time, under sections 148, 149 and 151, C.P.C., in which he stated that he was not aware of the condition imposing court-fees and that due to the Covid-19 pandemic and closure of the court he was unable to make payment within the stipulated thirty days---However, his application was dismissed---Appellant had paid the court-fees, which had secured the interest of the State---Non-payment or belated payment of court-fees does not adversely affect the interest of the opposite-party---Appellate Court should not have proceeded to decide the appellant's appeal till he had paid court-fees---Appellant had given sufficiently valid reasons for extending the time for payment of court-fees, which the court could extend under sections 148 and 149 of C.P.C., therefore, his application seeking extension of time to pay court-fees, should have been accepted by the Appellate Court---If court-fees was allowed to be paid the interest of the State would have been secured, without in any manner undermining the legal rights of the opposite-party, therefore, it was not understandable why the appellant was not allowed to pay the court-fees, albeit belatedly---Appeal was allowed, impugned judgment of Appellate Court was set-aside with the observations that legal complications arise if a judgment is given, as in the present case, without applicable court-fees having been paid, and parties alter their positions pursuant thereto, for instance the appellant may have proceeded to sell the land which he had purchased and thus created third-party interest therein, which may give rise to additional litigation; that such litigation can be avoided if the matter of court-fees is first settled; that when courts are inundated with cases, and of those who are keen to proceed with them, it does not stand to reason to waste court-time by deciding a case in which court-fees has not been paid.

Syed ZAHID HUSSAIN SHAH vs MUMTAZ ALI Ss — 2023 PLD 470 SUPREME-COURT

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