Court fee to be waived for poor

KOLKATA: The West Bengal government isgoing to issue a multi-purpose card for people living below poverty line, whichwill also provide free legal help and exemption from court fees to the cardholder. The decision has been taken at a meeting with chief minister BuddhadebBhattacharjee, state law minister Nisith Adhikary said on Thursday."Peopleearning up to Rs 15,000 per annum are eligible for free legal aid. However, manyof them could not avail the service as they lacked documents to prove theirincome status. The new card would be handy for that purpose," said the minister.The card-holders will also be entitled to subsidised ration, free treatment andeducation. The CPM leadership is keen to introduce the card before the panchayatelection.Adhikary, however, denied that the court fee exemption was beingoffered in view of the lawyers'' strike against the hike in court charges. "Wewill practise cross-subsidy and mop up additional revenue to provide more freelegal aid to the poor," he claimed, while justifying the hike.Officialsclose to the minister ruled out a rollback, though the Bar Council condemned the"surreptitious" increase by an ordinance. The maximum court fees for probate ortransferring properties have gone up to Rs 50,000 from 10,000. But officialsjustified the increase, saying that many properties in Salt Lake and othernotified areas were sold through wills to take advantage of low probate feesfixed in 1970."Since outright transfer of land is illegal in these areas,many middle-class Bengalis have sold their property to affluent people throughwill to evade stamp duty," maintained an official.Alleging that lawyerswere more concerned about their own income, the official said that poorlitigants were fleeced by their counsels in the district courts, includingMalda. "They charge Rs 10 per vakalatnama in the name of a lawyer welfare fund.But the money is spent on other purposes," he claimed.High court circuitbench: Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee has urged Union law minister JanaKrisnamurthi to expedite amendments to the States Reorganisation Act tofacilitate setting up of a circuit bench of Kolkata High Court for north Bengalin Jalpaiguri. In a letter to Krisnamurthi, he sent the ball back to theCentre''s court saying that the state would provide infrastructural support assoon as the preparations were made by the Centre and the high court.