Court fee in writ petitions is payable per petitioner, not separately for each penalty order challenged on the same facts.

Court fee for a writ petition challenging multiple penalty orders arising from the same factual matrix is computed per petitioner, not per impugned order. Under the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959 and the High Court Rules, Article 11(l)(iii) fixes the fee for an original writ petition by reference to the number of petitioners, and Section 6 on multifariousness does not govern this fee calculation. Rule 147A likewise supports a per-petitioner basis. The petition therefore attracts only one set of court fee for each petitioner, even though several penalty orders are challenged.

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Issues: Whether, in a writ petition challenging several penalty orders passed on the same set of facts and on the same grounds, court fee is payable separately for each impugned order or only once per petitioner.

Analysis: The governing scheme under the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959 and the High Court Rules was examined. Article 11(l)(iii) prescribes court fee for original petitions in the High Court at Rs. 100 per petitioner. The court fee structure for writ petitions is tied to the number of petitioners, not to the number of causes of action or impugned orders. Section 6, which deals with multifarious suits and applies mutatis mutandis to petitions, was held not to control the computation of court fee in a writ petition of this nature. Rule 147A also shows that where more than one person joins in a writ petition, the fee is reckoned per petitioner. On the facts, the multiple penalty orders arose from the same factual matrix and the same legal challenge, so the writ petition could not be fragmented into separate fee units for each order.

Conclusion: Only one set of court fee was payable for the writ petition, namely the fee prescribed per petitioner under Article 11(l)(iii), and not separate court fee for each penalty order.

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