12Decision of questions as to valuation

(i) Every question relating to valuation for the purpose of determining the amount of any fee chargeable under this Chapter on a plaint or memorandum of appeal, shall be decided by the Court in which such plaint or memorandum, as the case may be, is filed, and such decision shall be final as between the parties to the suit.

(ii) But whenever any such suit comes before a Court of appeal, reference or revision, if such Court considers that the said question has been wrongly decided to the detriment of the revenue, it shall require the party by whom such fee has been paid to pay so much additional fee as would have been payable had the question been rightly decided, and the provisions of section 10, paragraph (ii), shall apply.

STATE AMENDMENT

Orissa

Amendment of section 12 of Act (7 of 1870).-- (1) In section 12 of the principal Act, for paragraph ii, the following paragraph shall be substituted:--

"ii. But whenever any such suit comes before a Court of appeal, reference or revision, if such Court considers that the said question has been wrongly decided, it shall--

(a) in any case in which the decision is to the detriment of revenue, require the party by whom such fee has been paid, to pay so much additional fee as would have been payable had the question been rightly decided and thereafter--

(i) if the party required to pay is the appellant or petitioner, the appeal or petition shall be stayed until the additional fee is paid. If the additional fee is not paid within such time as the Court shall fix, the appeal or petition shall be dismissed;

(ii) if the party required to pay it‘s the respondent or the opposite party, the Court shall fix a date before which such party shall pay the amount of court fee due from him and, if such party fails to pay the fee required before the date fixed by the Court, the Court shall recover the amount of such fee from him as if it were an arrear of land revenue. Where the Court considers that the amount of such fee should be paid to the respondent or the opposite party by the appellant or the petitioner, as the case may be , the Court may provide for such payment in the order as to costs in the said appeal or petition; and

(b) in any case in which the decision is that any excess fee has been levied, direct the refund of so much excess fee to the party who paid it as would not have been payable had the question been rightly decided.

Explanation.--For the purposes of this section a question relating to the classification of any suit in regard to section 7 shall not be deemed to be a question relating to valuation."

[Vide Orissa Act 5 of 1939, s. 13]