Kerala High Court Upholds 2025 Court Fee Hike; Says It Is Correlated With Cost Of Justice Administration

The Kerala High Court on Friday (October 31) dismissed a Public Interest Litigation challenging the increase in Court Fees and imposition of Ad-Valorem fees without an upper limit, through an amendment in the Kerala Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act, 1959.

The division bench comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Basant Balaji delivering the judgment said,

"State legislature has the legislative competence to enact the impugned amending act…The revision of Court fee has not taken place in the State of Kerala for more than two decades...A broad correlation between collection of court fee and expenditure of administration of justice is all that is necessary. Mathematical exactitude not required…."

A detailed judgment is awaited.

The increase in Court fee was proposed in the 2025-26 Budget Speech. Subsequently, these amendments were brought into effect through the Kerala Finance Act, 2025.

The PIL was moved by Kerala High Court Advocates' Association (KHCAA), claiming that the State government has not cited any reason, objective or purpose for the "steep increase" in Court Fees and have acted completely against the recommendations of the various reports Law Commission of India and the Kerala Law Reform Commission.

The challenge was also based on the Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India. Rejecting this contention, the High Court observed,

"Impugned amending Act cannot be declared void on the ground of violating the Article 14 of the Constitution of India. As per the challenge raised in respect of the violation of right to access to justice under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, it must be noted that the entire enactment sought to be declared unconstitutional in this account is not the position of law…There are no specific pleadings or supporting materials on the record in the petition that the impugned amending enactment can be declared unconstitutional on the basis of generalised...In the circumstances seeking the the declaration that the amendment of the Act is unconstitutional is rejected."

The petition also challenged Section 73A of the Kerala Court Fees and Suits Valuation Act which exempts State and its functionaries from paying court fees. It was pointed out that that the State is the biggest litigant and the blanket exemption given to the State is arbitrary, illegal and without any logic.

Rejecting this prayer, the High Court observed,

"The challenge to Section 73A of Act of 1959, which exempts the government from payment of Court Fee, was made in the year 2003 and have already been negatived by the division bench of this Court. We find no reason to take a different view."

Case title: Kerala High Court Advocates Association (KHCAA) v. State of Kerala & Others

Case No: WP(PIL) 14/ 2025

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 697

Counsel for Petitioner: Aysha Abraham, Yeshwant Shenoy 

Click Here To Read/ Download Judgment