' The appellant has assailed the vires of judgment and decree dated 8-2-2011 passed by learned Senior Civil Judge, Muzaffargarh, whereby a Reference made under section 18 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (Act No,I of 1894) was rejected.
2. The office raised an objection to the effect that the memorandum of appeal required court fee of Rs,15,000 and directed the appellant to affix the same. The appellant has challenged this office objection.
3. Learned counsel for the appellant has contended that the memorandum of appeal does not require any court fee. In support of the contention raised reliance is placed on Land Acquisition Officer and Collector, L.B.O.D., WAPDA, Hyderabad and another v. Muhammad Juman and another (2000 YLR 1123) (Karachi) and Smt. Siawati Kuer v. The State of Bihar (AIR 1972 Patna 294) (V 59 C 81).
4.It is true that the statutory compensation awarded under section 23(2) of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, does not form part of the compensation for the property acquired and as such no court fee is payable in this regard. However, the Reference under section 18 was made on an application of the appellant to the effect that the compensation awarded was inadequate and the same was not acceptable to her. This Reference was rejected through the impugned judgment and decree.
The Reference under section 18 or 30 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, is not a suit although the award given in the proceedings is deemed to be a decree under section 26 of the Act, ibid. In view of this aspect of the matter, Articles 17(iii) and (iv) of schedule II of the Court Fees Act, 1870, would not apply and the appeal against the judgment rejecting the award and upholding the compensation determined by the Collector would fall under Article 1 of the Schedule 1 of the Act ibid. ' The maximum court fee payable under this Article is Rs,3,000 only. This being so, the contention of the learned counsel for the appellant that no court fee is required in view of the case-law cited at the bar is without substance as the law laid down in the said cases is not applicable on the facts of this appeal. The appellant is required to pay' court-fee of Rs,3,000 and not Rs,15,000 as per objection raised by the office. The office objection is sustained with the slight modification to the effect that the deficiency of Rs,3,000 in court-fee be made up.