Despite a 2018 amendment raising court fees, the High Court’s official calculator still shows outdated rates — and repeated queries to the Registry remain unanswered.
A WEEK AFTER Punjab Today wrote to the Registrar General, Bombay High Court seeking clarification over the continued use of outdated court-fee calculations on the High Court’s website, the silence from the High Court administration has only deepened the mystery.
Punjab Today first emailed the Registry on 21 November 2025, pointing out that the Bombay High Court Fee Calculator still displays pre-2018 fee slabs, despite the Maharashtra Court Fees (Amendment) Act, 2017—notified as Maharashtra Act X of 2018—having come into force nearly eight years ago.
The Key Question Punjab Today Asked — And Still Awaits an Answer
Among the queries sent to the High Court, the most critical and legally necessary was:
Has the Bombay High Court received any subsequent instruction, stay order, circular, or amendment that modifies, suspends, or affects the 2018 amendment?
Punjab Today first flagged the outdated fee slabs on the Bombay High Court website.
This question was included in the very first email to ensure complete fairness and accuracy — to rule out the possibility that an administrative or judicial order exists which has not been made public.
To date, no response has been received to confirm or deny the existence of such an order.
After publishing our investigation on 24 November, another detailed reminder was sent the same day, attaching the link to the report and repeating the queries. A third reminder was also issued on 27 November 2025.
Yet, the Bombay High Court Registry has not even acknowledged receipt of the emails.
Read Punjab Today’s original report:
https://www.punjabtodaynews.com/high-court-ignoring-fee-law/
CMO Responds — High Court Still Silent
On 27 November 2025, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), Maharashtra responded promptly, confirming that Punjab Today’s email had been received and forwarded to the concerned department for examination.
In contrast, no acknowledgment or clarification has been provided by the Bombay High Court Registry, despite multiple written communications over several days.
The Core Issue: Is the Amended Fee Schedule Being Used at All?
Punjab Today’s investigation revealed a serious discrepancy: although the 2018 amendment raised the maximum ad-valorem court fee to ₹10 lakh, the Bombay High Court website still computes fees using the old ₹3 lakh ceiling.
Calculator still capped at ₹3 lakh for high-value suits.
Even a ₹1 crore suit is shown with a fee of ₹3 lakh, whereas the amended law requires a fee that is significantly higher.
In successive emails, Punjab Today asked the four straightforward questions:
1. Has the Registry taken note of outdated calculations?
2. Does the High Court website reflect the law currently in force?
3. Were any circulars issued to implement the amended fee schedule across Maharashtra?
4. Has any internal review or correction process begun?
As of today, no response has been received.
A Troubling Possibility: Did Courts Ever Implement the Amendment?
If the Bombay High Court itself continues to publish pre-2018 fee slabs, this raises an urgent and uncomfortable question:
Have lower courts across Maharashtra also been applying outdated rates?
Given that the State’s District Judiciary handles over 20 lakh filings every year, systematic undercharging over eight years could represent an enormous loss to the exchequer. In high-value suits alone, a ₹1 crore suit may have been undercharged by ₹3–4 lakh.
The implications extend to:
• State revenue,
• legal uniformity,
• administrative credibility, and
• public trust in the justice system.
A Systemic Audit Now Seems Unavoidable
With the High Court silent despite repeated queries, and the Government yet to issue any formal clarification, the situation now warrants a comprehensive audit of court-fee collections since 2018 to determine:
• Whether the amended schedule was implemented consistently,
• Whether Registries have been unintentionally accepting lower fees, and
• The actual magnitude of financial loss to the State.
Until the High Court or the Maharashtra Government provides a clear response, the troubling question remains:
How could a law notified in 2018 remain missing from the Bombay High Court’s own official systems for eight years?
Punjab Today will continue to follow the matter closely and update this report as soon as official comments are received. We are also examining how much loss to the exchequer may have occurred over the past eight years due to this negligence. Watch this space. 
Update: Sprouts News referenced this Punjab Today investigation on the Bombay High Court’s court-fee calculator issue. Read their report here
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kanwar manjit singh
Kanwar Manjit Singh, Founder Editor of Punjab Today, writes extensively on Punjab’s history, governance, and the evolving landscape of civil liberties in India.
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