One-time process fee for Delhi High Court’s Original side matters

The Delhi High Court has resolved to introduce a one-time process fee of Rs. 1,000 for the plaintiff(s) and Rs 500 per defendant, payable at the time of filing of the suit and the written statement respectively, with respect to the matters pertaining to its Original Jurisdiction..The new fee shall be chargeable with effect from September 1, 2019..The decision was taken by the Chief Justice of the High Court, Justice DN Patel and the companion Judges of the High Court in terms of Rule 2, Chapter-VI of the Delhi High Court (Original Side) Rules, 2018..A Notification to this effect dated August 23 has clarified that one-time process fee shall not include any other incidental levies/fees such as diet money for witnesses, filing of registered covers etc..Earlier this year, a Division Bench of then Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao has issued notice in a public interest petition seeking rules and regulations for the filing of a one-time Court Process Fee with the Registry..Filed through Advocate Payal Bahl, the petition by Legal Forum for Women Empowerment claimed that the payment of process fee multiple times troubled the litigants as well as the advocates. It was also stated that due to non-filing of process fee in time, cases also got delayed for want of service to the person concerned..The petitioner had suggested that a nominal court fee – as deemed fit by the appropriate authorities after due consultation with all the stakeholders – be collected upfront from the litigants at the time of filing cases in the court..Read the Notification: