Taking action to address the shortage of court fee stamps in state, the Bombay high court on Tuesday directed the government to start counters in the city as well as bar associations in courts to sell the same.
A division bench of justices Abhay Oka and Girish Kulkarni has asked the government to ascertain the requirement of stamps at courts, check their availability and ensure adequate stamps are supplied.
The HC has asked the government to file affidavit giving details of requirement and availability of stamps by November 15, and kept the next hearing on November 18.
It has also directed the government to start a counter to sell stamps at the Sewri sessions court, which even houses the Mazgaon sessions court.
Since the last few months, court fee stamp vendors have closed their business due to shortage in its supply from government presses. Following this, advocate Mayuresh Modgi had filed a petition highlighting the unavailability of stamps even in court premises which have dedicated windows.
The government had then submitted a letter saying that till the time the vendors start selling the stamps, it will make arrangements to sell the same at all bar associations in Maharashtra. "State government will appoint office staff from general stamps office in the court premises, where Mantralaya bank has closed their counters, as temporary arrangement till stamp vending licences are given to Bar associations in Mumbai," reads the letter, which is signed by the Additional Controller of Stamps.
The HC had last week sought explanation from the government as to why there's shortage of court fee stamps, which are required by advocates and litigants. The government had replied that the Reserve Bank of India had issued a circular this April to the treasury department asking it to shut down vendors as necessary permission was not obtained from the RBI.
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