Updated: 22 September 2026

Section 19 of the Court Fees Act 1870: Exemption of Certain Documents

Section 19 of the Court Fees Act, 1870 identifies documents that the Act itself does not make chargeable with a court fee. The provision is an exemption clause and should be read together with applicable State amendments and the court-fee law in force in the relevant State or Union Territory.

Meaning of the provision: where a document falls within a category listed in Section 19, the central Act does not impose a fee on that document. Court fees are also affected by State legislation and amendments, so the local law should be checked before filing.

Text of Section 19 - Exemption of certain documents

Nothing contained in this Act shall render the following documents chargeable with any fee:

  1. Power-of-attorney to institute or defend a suit when executed by a member of any of the Armed Forces of the Union not in civil employment.
  2. Written statements called for by the Court after the first hearing of a suit.
  3. Plaints in suits tried by village Munsifs in the Presidency of Fort St. George.
  4. Plaints and processes in suits before District Panchayats in the same Presidency.
  5. Plaints in suits before Collectors under Madras Regulation 12 of 1816.
  6. Probate of a will, letters of administration, and, save as regards debts and securities, a certificate under Bombay Regulation 8 of 1827, where the amount or value of the property in respect of which the probate or letters or certificate shall be granted does not exceed one thousand rupees.
  7. Application or petition to a Collector or other officer making a settlement of land-revenue, or to a Board of Revenue, or a Commissioner of Revenue, relating to matters connected with the assessment of land or the ascertainment of rights thereto or interests therein, if presented previous to the final confirmation of such settlement.
  8. Application relating to a supply for irrigation of water belonging to Government.
  9. Application for leave to extend cultivation, or to relinquish land, when presented to an officer of land-revenue by a person holding, under direct engagement with Government, land of which the revenue is settled, but not permanently.
  10. Application for service of notice of relinquishment of land or of enhancement of rent.
  11. Written authority to an agent to distrain.
  12. First application, other than a petition containing a criminal charge or information, for the summons of a witness or other person to attend either to give evidence or to produce a document, or in respect of the production or filing of an exhibit not being an affidavit made for the immediate purpose of being produced in Court.
  13. Bail-bonds in criminal cases, recognizances to prosecute or give evidence, and recognizances for personal appearance or otherwise.
  14. Petition, application, charge or information respecting any offence when presented, made or laid to or before a police-officer, or to or before the Heads of Villages or the Village Police in the territories respectively referred to in the provision.
  15. Petition by a prisoner, or other person in duress or under restraint of any Court or its officers.
  16. Complaint of a public servant, a municipal officer, or an officer or servant of a Railway Company.
  17. Application for permission to cut timber in Government forests, or otherwise relating to such forests.
  18. Application for the payment of money due by Government to the applicant.
  19. Petition of appeal against the chaukidari assessment under Act No. 20 of 1856, or against any municipal tax.
  20. Applications for compensation under any law for the time being in force relating to the acquisition of property for public purposes.
  21. Petitions presented to the Special Commissioner appointed under Bengal Act No. 2 of 1869 to ascertain, regulate and record certain tenures in Chota Nagpur.
  22. Petitions under the Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, sections 45 and 48.

What Section 19 covers

The exemptions span several kinds of documents, including specified powers-of-attorney, court-called written statements, certain revenue and irrigation applications, bail bonds and recognizances, petitions by prisoners, specified complaints by public officers, forest-related applications, claims for money due from Government, certain tax appeals, and applications for compensation for compulsory acquisition.

Important current-law notes

State amendments: court fees are substantially affected by State legislation. The text applicable in a particular State may differ from the central text. For example, the source page records the Orissa amendment substituting two thousand rupees for one thousand rupees in clause (viii). Users should verify the current State enactment or amendment before relying on a monetary threshold.

Acquisition law: the historical footnote referred to the Land Acquisition Act, 1894. That enactment was repealed by the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 with effect from 1 January 2014. Clause (xxii), however, is framed generally as an application for compensation under any law for the time being in force relating to acquisition of property for public purposes.

Criminal-law terminology: the central bare-act text historically refers in clause (xviii) to a public servant as defined in the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 came into force on 1 July 2024 and repealed the IPC subject to its savings. The wording of Section 19 should therefore be distinguished from the presently operative general penal law.

Repealed clauses and historical references

Clause (ii) was repealed by the Repealing and Amending Act, 1891, and clause (iv) was repealed by the Cantonments Act, 1889. Several surviving clauses also retain historical institutional or territorial terminology. Their practical operation should be considered with later legislation, adaptations and State-specific court-fee laws.

Orissa State amendment noted in the source

Under Orissa Act 11 of 1967, section 3, the words "one thousand rupees" in clause (viii) were substituted by "two thousand rupees" for the State amendment recorded in the source text.

Official legal resources

For the central enactment and its official text, consult India Code - The Court-Fees Act, 1870. Because court-fee legislation varies by State, also consult the official State legislation portal, High Court rules and applicable notifications for the place where the document is to be filed.

Practical filing point

Before treating a document as exempt, identify the exact clause of Section 19, confirm that the document satisfies the clause, and check whether a State amendment or a separate State court-fees enactment changes the position. This is especially important for probate, letters of administration, revenue proceedings and older categories expressed in historical terminology.

Legislative notes retained from the source

Clause (i) was adapted in 1950 to refer to a member of the Armed Forces of the Union. Clause (ii) was repealed in 1891 and clause (iv) in 1889. Clause (viii) contains wording substituted by Act 7 of 1889. Clause (xxiv) was substituted by Act 15 of 1872.