Court fee valuation for strangers challenging a sale deed lies under Section 25(d), not cancellation provisions, and plaint rejection was unwarranted.
Where plaintiffs, as strangers to a sale deed, seek a declaration that the alienation is null and void and not binding, the suit is valued under Section 25(d) of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955, not under Section 40, which applies to cancellation by parties to the document. Court fee is primarily gathered from the plaint averments, and a defendant's version alone cannot justify rejection of the plaint where no clear bar is disclosed. The suit was therefore correctly valued, and no ground existed to reject or return the plaint under Order 7 Rule 10 or Order 7 Rule 11 CPC.
Issues: Whether a suit seeking declaration that a sale deed is null and void, where the plaintiffs are not parties to the document, is to be valued under Section 25(d) of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955 or under Section 40 of that Act, and whether the plaint was liable to be rejected or returned for want of proper court fee or jurisdiction.
Analysis: The valuation of court fee is to be gathered primarily from the plaint averments. Where the plaintiffs are strangers to the sale deed and seek only a declaration that the alienation is void and not binding, the relief is not one for cancellation by a party to the document. In such a case, Section 25(d) applies rather than Section 40, which governs suits for cancellation of decrees or documents by persons who are parties to them. The Court also noted that the question of adequacy of court fee may involve factual questions and, depending on the nature of the dispute, need not always be tried as a preliminary issue. An application under Order 7 Rule 11 cannot be allowed merely on the defendant's version when the plaint does not disclose a clear bar to the suit.
Conclusion: The suit was correctly valued under Section 25(d) of the Tamil Nadu Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1955, and no ground was made out to reject or return the plaint under Order 7 Rule 10 or Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
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