A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court comprising Justice Nagarjuna Reddy and Justice M.S.K. Jaiswal directed the Legal Services Authorities of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to investigate and find out how ineligible persons were getting the benefits of court fee exemption and the like, under the Legal Service Authority Act.
The bench said that these loopholes need to be plugged. It was dealing with a case filed by M/s. Navya Infracon Projects (I) Private Ltd. The petitioner said that some fishermen did not pay the court fee but their suits were numbered and proceeded.
They got exemption from the District Legal Services Authority of Visakhapatnam to the tune of Rs. 18.5 lakh.
The bench asked authorities to examine whether these plaintiffs were really eligible for exemption and said that till the inquiry was over, the suits shall not proceed further.
The High Court of Hyderabad bench said “it is needless to observe that the plaintiffs’ entitlement for payment of court fee by the Government depends upon the decision of the scrutinizing committee.
Till a decision is taken by the Committee, the suit shall not be proceeded with”.
The bench further commented that before parting with this case, it would like to place on record certain ground realities. “We have come across strong criticism of brazen misuse of benevolent provisions of the Act and the Regulations,” the bench observed.
