HC strikes down Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012

In a setback to the city government, the Delhi High court today struck down the Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012, under which court fees were hiked ten-fold last year, saying the "Delhi assembly did not have the legislative competence" to amend the law.
The court also directed the government to refund the higher amount collected from the litigants since the amendment.
Allowing the Delhi High Court Bar Association (DHCBA) plea challenging Delhi government's amendment in the Court Fee Act last year, a bench of justices Geeta Mittal and J R Midha said the Court Fee Delhi Amendment Act is "ultra vires."

"We have held that the Delhi Legislative Assembly did not have the legislative competence to amend the Court Fees Act, 1870. We have also held that the Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012 adversely impacts the Part-III rights and results in violation of Article 38 and 39A of the Constitution of India.
"For these reasons, the Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012 as a whole has to be struck down. The Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012 is hereby declared as invalid and ultra vires the Constitution and therefore, struck down," the court said.
Delhi government had increased the court fees ten-fold to shore up its coffers by around Rs 450 crore annually.

Accepting the arguments of Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhiok, who is also DHCBA's President, for the petitioner that certain provisions in the new Act are not rational and the same is violative of the litigants' access to justice, the bench directed the government to refund to the litigants the fees collected so far as per the new Act.
"The respondents (GNCT) would be liable to refund court fee which has been recovered from litigants based on the prescriptions contained in the Court Fees (Delhi Amendment) Act, 2012.