TULSIDAS JEWRAJ Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) (Civil. Rule No. 2848 of 1951.) This is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution for an appropriate writ directing the opposite parties to forbear from giving effect to a notification and a declaration both dated 16-3-1951 and published on 5-4-1951 and 12-4-1951 respectively issued under the provisions of the West Bengal Land Development and Planning Act, 1948.

(2.) The petitioner is a permanent tenure-holder in respect of a large area of land in Mouza Makla P. S. Utterpara in the district of Hooghly. By a notification dated 16-3-1951 bearing no. 3132 L. Dev. issued under Section 4 of W. B. Act 21 of 1948 and published in the Calcutta Gazette dated 5-4-1951 the Government of West Bengal declared that portions of the lands held by the petitioner, particulars whereof are set out in the second schedule to the petition, were likely to be needed for settlement of immigrants. By a declaration bearing No. 3134 L. Dev. and also dated 16-3-1951 issued under Section 6 read with Section 7 of the said Act 21 of 1948, it was made known that the said plots (which were the subject matter of the notification under Section 4 were needed for settlement of immigrants. This declaration was published in the Gazette on 12-4-1951. The petitioner has challenged the validity of the notification and the declaration on various grounds set out in para. 9 of the petition. But at the hearing the learned Advocate appearing for the petitioner has not pressed all these grounds.

(3.) The first point raised by Mr. Atul Gupta is that the declaration under Section 6 read with Section 7 is not a valid declaration in as much as at the date when the declaration was' drawn up, the notification under Section 4 of the Act had not been published and there was therefore, no notified area in respect of which, the declaration under Section 6 could be made. Mr. Gupta has drawn my attention to the wordings of Section 4 and to the wordings of Section 6 and points out that a declaration of a notified area under Section 4 can be made only by publishing a notification in the official Gazette, but a declaration under Section 6 is made as soon as it is drawn up and signed, no matter whether it is published in the official Gazette or not. In other words, according to Mr. Gupta the declaration is complete without its publication and the publication is not an essential ingredient of the making of the declaration under Section 6 of the Act.