Through this writ petition the petitioner has called in question the judgment and decree, dated 28- 7-2000, passed by learned Additional District Judge, Haroonabad by which the appeal filed by the petitioner against the judgment and decree, dated 25-5-2000 of learned Judge Family Court, Haroonabad was dismissed.
2. Mst. Fazeelat Parveen, respondent No.3 had filed a suit for recovery of dowry articles or in the alternative grant of decree for the amount to the tune of Rs.1,45,900 in the Court of learned Judge Family Court, Haroonabad which was contested by the defendant-petitioner. Issues were framed and evidence of the plaintiff was recorded while the defendant-petitioner had failed to produce his evidence and in consequence, evidence of the defendant-petitioner was closed and the suit was deereed in favour of respondent No.3. Against this judgment and decree passed by learned Judge Family Court on 25-5-2000, the petitioner filed an appeal before the learned Additional District Judge, Haroonabad on 14-6-2000. The learned Additional District Judge on 26-7-2000 passed an order calling upon the petitioner to deposit Court-fee amounting to Rs.10,943. As per order, dated 26-7- 2000, the petitioner had to pay the Court-fee uptil 28-7-2000, but on the aforesaid date, the petitioner failed to comply with order, dated 26-7-2000, therefore, the learned Additional District Judge dismissed the appeal on the basis of non-payment of Court-fee.
3. Learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner has contended that Court-fee was not leviable on the memo, of appeal. He has referred to Abdul Ghafoor v. Muhammad Rafiq and others (PLD 1983 Lahore 383), to support his argument.
4. While opposing the contention of the petitioner's counsel, learned counsel for respondent No.3 has replied that the citation was not applicable to the case of the petitioner and that the appeal had to be filed by the petitioner after affixing upon it the requisite Court-fee.
5. I have considered the arguments of the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the record.
6. According to section 35 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 (VII of 1870), the Appropriate Government was conferred powers to reduce or remit through a notification the whole or any part of the fees mentioned in the first and second schedules annexed to the aforesaid Court, Fees Act and may in like manner cancel or vary such order. Through Notification No.5487-78/1800-ST-I, dated 9-7-1978 in exercise of the powers granted by section 35 of the Court-Fees Act, 1870 the Governor of the Punjab issued a notification, the wordings of which are as under:-- "In exercise of the powers conferred by section 35 of the Court-Fees Act, 1870, the Governor of the Punjab is pleased to remit with effect from the 1st August 1978, Court-fee payable on plaints in civil suits under Article 1 of Schedule I when the amount or value of the subject-matter does not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees and on complaints in criminal case under Article 1(b) of Schedule II."
After this notification in the year 1980, another notification, in partial modification of the above- noted notification, was issued by the Punjab Government, which is noted as below:-- "In exercise of the powers conferred by section 35 of the Court Fees Act, 1870, the Governor of the Punjab in partial modification of the Punjab Government Notification No.4487- 78/1800-ST-1, dated the 9th July, 1978, is pleased to remit Court-fee on any civil and Revenue suits the value of the subject-matter whereof or of the relief claimed therein, does not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees, at all stages, in all Courts, including Revenue Courts, and on complaints in criminal cases."
A third notification came into the shape of the Punjab Court Fees (Abolition) Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance X of 1983) which was issued by the Governor of the Punjab and came into force on 1st August, 1978. Section 2 of the Ordinance is reproduced hereunder:-- "(2) Abolition of court-fee in certain cases. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Court-Fees Act, 1870 (VII of 1870) or any other law for the time being in force or in any Rule, Notification or Order, no court-fee shall be chargeable by any Court or payable in respect of-
(a) any criminal case; and
(b) any case of civil nature the value of the subject-matter whereof or the relief claimed wherein does not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees. Explanation. The aforesaid abolition of Court-fee shall be applicable at all stages of the case and in respect of all Courts including Revenue Courts."
7. From the perusal of the above-noted notification it becomes clear that the last notification with the nomenclature of the Punjab Court Fees (Abolition) Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance X of 1983) was in field when the appeal was filed by the petitioner in the Court of learned Additional District Judge, Haroonabad. Even according to this notification, the petitioner was bound to pay Court-fee upon the memorandum of appeal filed by him before the aforesaid Court, as the relief claimed therein had exceeded to more than twenty-five thousand rupees. It may be clarified here that the decree passed in favour of respondent No.3 was to the tune of Rs.1,45,900, therefore, the learned Additional District Judge had correctly ordered of Court-fee of Rs.10,943 on the memo, of appeal.
8. The citation of PLD 1983 Lahore 383 (Abdul Ghafoor v. Muhammad Rafiq and others) does not help the petitioner as it has not exempted the affixation and payment of Court-fee upon the decrees of the Family Courts when the amount decreed has exceeded from twenty-five thousand rupees. In Naqash Ahmad and another v. Muhammad Sharif and another (PLD 1996 Lah. 436), the decree passed in suit for maintenance was also held under section 2 of the Punjab Court Fees (Abolition) Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance X of 1983) liable to be paid with the court-fee when the relief had exceeded from Rs.25,000. I am fortified by another judgment of Hon'ble Supreme Court of Pakistan reported in 1995 SCMR 1720 (Muhammad Shafqat Baig v. Mazhar Hussain Minhas, Addl.
District Judge, Rawlpindi and others), in which while discussing the Punjab Court Fees (Abolition)
Ordinance, 1983 (Ordinance X of 1983), explanation to section 2, it was held that memorandum of appeal against decree of Family Court would be liable and leviable with ad valorum court-fee under Article 1 Schedule I of the Court Fees Act, 1870, if the amount decreed by the Family Court exceeded Rs.25,000.
9. In the latest amendment in the Punjab Family Courts Act, 1964 (West Pakistan Act No. XXXV of 1964) by Ordinance No.LV of 2002, promulgated on 1-10-2002, section 19 has been amended in the following form:-- "Notwithstanding anything contained in the Court-Fees Act, 1870 (VII of 1870), the Court-fee to be paid on any plaint or memorandum of appeal shall be rupees fifteen for any kind of suit or appeal under this Act."
10. According to this amendment in section 19 of the Punjab Family Courts Act, 1964, the position has materially been changed. Its advent in the field provides the relief to the litigants for the first time on the memorandum of appeal also. By this section memorandum of appeal shall be affixed with a fixed amount of Rs.15 as Court-fee. The above-noted amend:milt of 1st October, 2002 unequivocally gives out the impression of interpretation that before coming into force of this amendment the Court-fee on the memorandum of appeal was to be affixed in case of decretal amount exceeding Rs.25,000 according to Article 1 of Schedule I of the Court-Fees Act which had provided ad valorem Court-fee according to the relief claimed in the appeal. Prior to this amended provision of section 19, the appeal was to be affixed with the Court-fee as required by the learned Additional District Judge. Therefore, the failure of the petitioner to make up' the deficiency of Court-fee was rightly mulcted with the rejection of the appeal through the impugned judgment and decree of the learned Additional Ditrict Judge. Accordingly I dismiss the writ petition by upholding the impugned _judgment and decree of the learned Appellate Court below without any order as to costs.