Law ministry brings new rules for adjudicating court fee violations in Union territories

New Delhi: The Union law ministry has come out with a set of rules to set up a framework to handle violations related to court fees and stamp rules in the Union territories.

The Union Territories Court Fees (Adjudication of Penalties and Appeal) Rules, 2026, issued on Saturday operationalise sections 34A and 34B of the Court Fees Act, 1870, which were recently added following amendments under the Jan Vishwas (Amendment of Provisions) Act, 2026.

Instead of changing the court-fee system, the rules focus on administrative enforcement, accountability and time-bound conflict resolution.


The amended Jan Vishwaas law tweaked the Court Fees Act to replace criminal punishment with financial penalties for minor, non-fraudulent violations of stamp-sale rules.

Under the newly-notified rules, revenue officers, licensed stamp vendors and members of the public can report violations to the designated adjudicating officers empowered to investigate and levy penalties under the Court Fees Act.

The rules prescribe uniform forms for filing complaints, issuing show-cause notices and lodging appeals, bringing consistency to the adjudication process.

Alleged violators must be given a show-cause notice and a reasonable opportunity to present their case. When determining penalties, officers will consider factors such as public hardship, repeated offences and unfair financial gains.

Stringent timeframes have been laid down for notice issuance, adjudication completion and appeal disposal to prevent delays.

Those aggrieved by the adjudication can challenge the penalty orders before a designated appellate authority.

A usual or a typical violation under the Court Fees Act involves failing to properly pay, compute or handle mandatory court-fee stamps or document valuations.