The main question is - what exactly is the mechanism for paying court fees in the
Surajpur court of Gautam Buddha Nagar, UP jurisdiction. Is it in bags of cash
only? I'll describe the situation in detail below.
I lost my family in the pandemic. When it came time to deal with securing my
family's assets, some mutual fund accounts were left without nominations (rather, nomination was only filled in bank account tied to demat account).
I was informed that succession certificates would be needed for these. 2
certificates for 2 of my late family members.
I was referred a laywer from Delhi who after accepting the case said his
'colleague' from Noida would handle it as he was familiar with the UP
jurisdiction.
A year and a half later, with slow proceedings, some expenses without receipts,
some incorrect advice (EPF account claims do NOT need a succession certificate
in reality), we've finally reached the phase where I'm told the judge has passed
the order.
On that day, it was a bit weird - I was asked by the lawyer to come to court -
apparently the judge wanted to see me in person before passing order. He saw me,
and then handed my files plus original IDs of my late family members to a court
employee and said something to him.
I was called to the next room by my lawyer and signed some register saying
'petitioner was present'. Then I was told to sign two blank green-ish sheets by
my lawyer and a court employee. Apparently the order would be printed on those
sheets.
A week later I'm told the order has passed and now court fees are to be paid. I
can see online ecourt system that the case status is 'CASE DISPOSED', but down
below it says 'order not uploaded by concerned court'.
My lawyer said that he was verbally told the court fee amount for both cases by
a concerned court employee who's job it is to calculate this. There is
apparently no document for this that is published by the court. Instead we have
to calculate relevant amount, pay it, and then some court employee records that
X amount has been paid and is sufficient.
This feels different from our day 1 (and even subsequent) conversations where I
was told the court would give me an official document with all the court fee
calculations laid out and I could pay directly into a court bank account.
On top of that, my lawyer says the only way to pay court fees is through a
couple of official court fee stamp vendors. They apparently charge some extra
commission amount, and we buy court fee papers from them. He said that these
vendors only accept cash - literal cash bills.
And he says that the efiling system for UP isn't functional.
So I have to arrange cash of some 3+ lakh amount for the court fees (about 10%
of total assets). Then take this to the court fee paper vendors. Then I submit
the papers to someone who will record the fees as being paid and things move
forward towards printing the succession certificates.
The lawyer got angry when I asked for details about all this cash stuff. He said
this is how things happen in UP and he's done it for all his clients this way. I
just wanted clarity on exact dealings since all this feels out of the blue and
he got agitated by my questions.
He then said if I end up somehow paying using an online e-filing system (I
thought he said it was down), the court still has to verify the payment and the
court employees would refuse to do so without this cash approach. He said if
that happens it would be my responsibility to run around for verification and
his remaining lawyer fees would have to be paid.
Is this really how things are supposed to work? I don't get to see official
court document about the court fees decision? I don't get to have an official
bank transaction to court's bank account? I have to hand out 3L of cash to move
things forward?
I am exhausted. The last 2 years I've been doing nothing but live in anxiety
about all the unclear bureaucratic procedures, dealing with government
employees, moving things forward inch by inch. This court/succession part has
been the most outside my control with me being completely blind to what goes on
in the court.
If anyone can shed light on whether this is how it is in UP or whether I'm being
scammed, I would greatly appreciate it.
