court fee to minor

Good evening Sir, 

The law regarding exemption on court fees varies from State to State. [A CLARIFICATION ON THAT WOULD HELP US STREAMLINE THE SEARCH].  By virtue of the powers under Section 35 of the Court Fees Act, the central or state governments may pass notifications to reduce or remit any court fees payable. For instance, the Orissa government had passed a notification in 1994 exempting certain classes from paying any court fee for filling or instituting cases, including minors and women.

With respect to your query, an application may be filed along with the plaint to the Court seeking exemption  [if the notification is not available in the particular state]. The applicant needs to satisfy the court that he/she does not have the capacity to pay court fees with some substantial proof. Particularly, with respect to minors, the following are the judgments on that point which state that minors may be exempted from paying court fees.

In the case of Venkatanarasaya v. Achemma, (1881) ILR 3 Mad. 3(1), the Madras High Court held that a minor who is not possessed of sufficient means within the definition of pauperism for the purpose of Order 33 is entitled to be allowed to sue in forma pauperis by a next friend although the next friend is not a pauper.

The Delhi High Court in 2007, partially agreed with this position in the case of Disha Sethi & Ors. v. Chander Sethi, (2007) ILR 9 Delhi 76,  and stated that minors can be treated as indigent persons for the purposes of exempting them from payment of fees (in maintenance cases). However, the Court also stated that as per Order 32 Rule 2(A) the court can direct the next friend of the minors to submit a security and did so in the aforementioned case. You might refer to the order here: https://delhidistrictcourts.nic.in/Nov07/Disha%20Sethi%20Vs.%20Chander%20Mohan%20Sethi.pdf

Please seek any further clarification, if required.