J.B. Koshy, J.
1. The rate and quantum of court fee payable in an appeal filed under Section 384 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 is the subject matter of this order.
2. Article 7 of Schedule I of the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Court Fees Act') deals with the payment of court fee when an application is filed under the Indian Succession Act, 1925. The above Article reads as follows:
Certificate under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 (Central Act 39 of 1925):-
(i) Where the amount or value of the debt orsecurity or the aggregate amount or value of debt and securities specified inthe certificate does not exceed rupees ten million.
One percentum on suchamount or value.
(ii) Where such amount or value exceeds rupeesten million.
Half percentum on suchamount or value.'
The court fee payable in an appeal filed against an order under the Indian Succession Act is specified in Article 4 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act which reads as follows:'Memorandum of appeal against order in An amount of one-half the scale of feeproceedings under the Indian Succession prescribed in Article 1on the amount or valueAct, 1925 of the subject matter'.
3. So, there is no dispute that when an appeal is filed against an order in proceedings under the Indian Succession Act, 1925, the court fee payable is as prescribed under Article 4 of Schedule I which is one half the scale of fee prescribed in Article 1 on the amount or value of the subject matter.
4. When the appeal was presented with court fee payable under Article 7 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act, objection was raised by the Registry stating that court fee should be paid as provided under Article 1 in view of the constitution of Schedule I, Article 4. Reference was also made to the decision of a Division Bench of this Court in Re Seethalakshmi and Ors., 1980 KIT 560. In that case, the Division Bench held that an application for succession certificate shall be made by a petition only as provided under Section 372 of the Succession Act and the fee for it is governed by Schedule II, Article 11(1)(i) or (ii) ie., Rs. 5/- or Rs. 10/- depending on the court where it is filed. The above view was disagreed by a Full Bench of this Court in Kurian v. Ayyappan, 1982 KLT 434. The Full Bench observed as follows:
'With great respect, we are unable to agree with the learned Judges in the approach to this question, an approach which is reflected in the following passage:'No doubt an order on an application for the grant of a succession certificate is an order in a proceeding under the Succession Act. But as we saw it earlier, for that application Article 1 of Schedule I does not apply. The latter Article applies to only plaints, written statements and memorandum of appeal to which an ad valorem court-fee is payable under specific provisions of the Act. There is no specific provision in the Court-Fees Act relating to applications for a succession certificate. Hence we have to find out whether ad valorem court-fee is payable to any proceedings under the Succession Act. .............'
After noticing Section 295 of the Indian Succession Act which provides that contested probate proceedings are in the nature of suits, the Full Bench held that court fee payable in appeal is one half of the ad valorem value in view of Article 4 of Schedule I.
5. It is settled law that there is no room for intendment and there is no question of equity or presumption in fiscal statute. We have to interpret the provision considering the language used. Here the section is very clear. The court fee payable when an appeal is filed against an order in proceedings under the Indian Succession Act, 1925 is specifically mentioned in Article 4 of Schedule 1 of the Court Fees Act and as per Article 4, one-half of the court fee payable under Article 1 has to be paid. Therefore, the objection raised by the Registry is correct. The appellants have to pay the court fee as prescribed under Article 4 of Schedule I of the Court Fees Act.
Since appeal is an extension of the original proceedings, the court fee payable as on the date of the original application shall be paid by the appellants. The deficit court fee shall be paid by the appellants within two weeks from today.