Section 143 — Postage
Who bears the cost of posting court communications. Where postage is chargeable on a notice, summons or letter issued under the Code and sent by post — with the registration fee — it must be paid within a fixed time, before the communication is sent. But the State Government may remit the postage or fee (or both), or set a scale of court-fees in their place.
How to read Section 143
What is charged
Postage on a notice / summons / letter issued under the Code and sent by post, plus the registration fee — where these are chargeable.
Pay before sending
It must be paid within a time fixed before the communication is made — i.e. prepaid, not collected afterwards.
State may relax it
The State Government may remit the postage / fee, or prescribe a court-fee scale to be levied instead.
The bare Act
Postage, where chargeable on a notice, summons or letter issued under this Code and forwarded by post, and the fee for registering the same, shall be paid within a time to be fixed before the communication is made:
Provided that the State Government1 may remit such postage, or fee, or both, or may prescribe a scale of court-fees to be levied in lieu thereof.
1 The words “with the previous sanction of the G.G. in C.” (Governor-General in Council) were omitted by Act 38 of 1920, s. 2 and the First Schedule I, Pt. I.
In short: if a court communication goes by post and postage / registration is chargeable, that cost must be paid up front before it is sent — unless the State Government has waived it or replaced it with a court-fee.
→ § 143 is a cost-and-prepayment rule for postal service of the Code’s communications. The Proviso gives the State Government flexibility — to remit the charges or fold them into a court-fee scale. (Since 1920, the State Government may do this without the Governor-General-in-Council’s prior sanction.)
Key terms decoded
The postal charge for sending a court communication (notice / summons / letter) by post under the Code.
The extra charge for sending the item by registered post — also covered by the rule.
The communication must be one the Code authorises, and actually sent by post — that is when § 143 applies.
Prepayment. The charge is fixed and must be paid before the item goes out — not recovered later.
To waive / excuse the postage or fee. The State Government may remit one, the other, or both.
Instead of postage / registration, the State Government may set a court-fee to be levied in their place — a single, simpler charge.
The picture — prepay the post, unless the State relaxes it
§ 143 keeps the postage account straight: the cost of posting the Code’s communications is prepaid up front — while the State Government keeps a free hand to waive it or convert it into a tidy court-fee.
Part by part — the rule and its Proviso
The rule is simple housekeeping: the cost of posting a court communication is settled in advance, within a time the court fixes, so nothing goes out unpaid.
Postage, where chargeable on a notice, summons or letter issued under this Code and forwarded by post, and the fee for registering the same…
Both the postage and any registration fee on a court communication sent by post — where these are chargeable.
…shall be paid within a time to be fixed before the communication is made.
It must be paid up front — within a time fixed before the item is sent. The post is prepaid, not billed later.
The Proviso hands the State Government a choice — lift the charge altogether, or replace it with a single court-fee. Since 1920 it may do so on its own, without higher sanction.
Provided that the State Government may remit such postage, or fee, or both…
The State Government may waive the postage, the registration fee, or both — sparing the party the charge.
…or may prescribe a scale of court-fees to be levied in lieu thereof.
Or it may substitute a court-fee for the postage / fee — a single, fixed charge in their place. (The Governor-General-in-Council’s prior sanction was dropped in 1920.)
How the rule and the Proviso fit
Prepay the post — but the State can lift or convert the charge
Connected provisions
Section 143 closes Part XI’s process & machinery group (§§ 136–143). It deals with the cost of posting the Code’s communications — the natural companion to § 142 (which requires those communications to be in writing) and to the service rules of Order V.