Justice VK Mohanan Committee to hold public hearings in Kerala to consider revision of court fees

An Expert Committee headed by retired Kerala High Court judge Justice VK Mohanan will be holding public hearings to consider the revision of court fees in the State..The State government constituted the five-member Committee to study and suggest proposals for the revision of court fees so that the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act, 1959, can be amended as needed. .In its first meeting, the Committee decided that it is necessary to get suggestions and relevant information from various stakeholders including the Registry of the Kerala High Court, judicial and quasi-judicial bodies, statutory bodies, bar associations etc. The Committee also opined that to ensure transparency and fairness, it would be wise to hear the opinions of stakeholders and the general public on the matter. .To this end, the Committee will be conducting public hearings in Kannur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram from June 19 to 22 respectively. .In a letter to the Bar Council of Kerala, the Committee said that court fees in the State have not been revised for over 20 years despite steep increases in the costs incurred in the administration of justice. It noted that while the Law Commission of India in its 189th report had concluded that revising court fees to recover administration costs would amount to impeding access to justice, revision would be necessary given the depreciation of the Rupee. This coupled with statistics on the number of cases filed each year and budgetary allocation has led to the decision of the committee to invite views from the High Court Registry, the Bar Council of Kerala, Registry of the Administrative tribunal, judicial and quasi-judicial authorities, representatives of all bar associations, editors of law journals and law books and lawyer organisations. Apart from submitting statements, objections and affidavits, these stakeholders can offer their suggestions along with the general public in the scheduled hearings.