Members of the Kerala High Court Advocates' Association are abstaining from court proceedings on Wednesday in protest against a hike in court fees. At a meeting held on April 4, the KHCAA General Body decided to observe a 'pen down' protest to express strong objection to what they called an 'unreasonable' fee hike.

In the state budget for 2025-26, Finance Minister KN Balagopal said that court fees have not been revised in Kerala for the past two decades. He cited the inflation during the last several years as a reason why a timely fee revision was absolutely necessary.

The government constituted a committee chaired by the Rtd. Judge of the High Court. Based on the committee's interim report, the government introduced court fees in two areas, but many other areas were still outside the committee's purview. The latest hike, which became effective from April 1, was based on the committee's final report.

KHCAA submitted a letter to the High Court Chief Justice on Tuesday, saying that the arbitrary and unreasonable hike in court fees by 400 per cent to 9,900 per cent by the unilateral act of the state violates the Article 21 that guarantees Right to Life, which includes access to justice.

"The action of the state in increasing court fees is a grave danger to democracy, and the judicial system itself is at stake as it denies people the right to access justice," KHCAA said in the letter.

The High Court on Tuesday directed the Kerala government to present materials it had relied upon to raise the court fee. The HC directive was based on a petition filed by the KHCAA. The case has been posted for May 23.

The petition, which questioned the exponential increase in court fees, pointed out that while the fee hike was based on the reports of the Justice Mohanan Committee, the state government has not, to date, made the report public.

"Numerous RTIs filed before the government were left unanswered," the petition said. The petition sought to issue a direction declaring that the amendment to the Kerala Court Fees and Suit Valuation Act, 1959, by the Kerala Finance Act, 2025, was unconstitutional.