Court-fee valuation on appeal excludes unchallenged pendente lite interest, which is not part of the disputed subject-matter.

For ad valorem court-fee on a memorandum of appeal under the Bombay Court-fees Act, 1959, only the amount specifically put in dispute is included in the value of the subject-matter in dispute. Pendente lite interest awarded in the court's discretion is not to be added where the memorandum of appeal does not specifically challenge that award. The position is treated as similar to costs, which are excluded unless separately attacked. The result is that an appeal confined to the principal decree and pre-suit interest need not be valued by adding unchallenged pendente lite interest, and the court-fee objection fails.

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Issues: Whether pendente lite interest decreed for the period between the institution of the suit and the date of decree forms part of the "amount or value of the subject-matter in dispute" under article 1 of Schedule I of the Bombay Court-fees Act, 1959 for computing court-fee on the memorandum of appeal when that interest is not specifically challenged in appeal.

Analysis: The expression governing court-fee under the Bombay Court-fees Act, 1959 was construed strictly, as the statute is a taxing enactment. The value of the subject-matter in dispute in appeal was held to depend on the specific reliefs and rights actually challenged in the memorandum of appeal. Where the appellant disputed only the decree for principal and pre-suit interest, and did not specifically question the award of pendente lite interest, that amount was not a matter in dispute before the appellate court. The position was treated as analogous to costs, which are not ordinarily included in the subject-matter in dispute unless separately attacked. Sections 34 and 35 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 were referred to as showing that pendente lite interest and costs are matters awarded in the court's discretion and are not, without a specific challenge, part of the right asserted in appeal.

Conclusion: Pendente lite interest is not to be included in the valuation of the appeal for court-fee unless its award is specifically challenged; the memorandum of appeal was sufficiently stamped and the objection to court-fee failed.

Ratio Decidendi: For purposes of ad valorem court-fee on an appeal, only the amount specifically put in dispute in the memorandum of appeal forms part of the subject-matter in dispute; pendente lite interest awarded in the court's discretion is excluded unless directly and specifically challenged.

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