SYED FATEYAB ALI MEERZA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS writ application is at the instance of the petitioner who is one of the male descendants of His Highness Fureeddon Jah Syed Mansoor Ali Khan, the nawab of Murshidabad against an order or requisition by which the front portion of premises No. 85, Park Street, (Culcutta, which is the lawn was requisitioned under the provisions of West Bengal Land (Requisition and acquisition) Act 1948.

(2.) IT is not necessary to set out all the facts pleaded in the writ application. For the purpose of this writ application, the relevant facts are that Murshidabad Estate (Trust) Act 1963 (hereinafter referred to as the Trust Act) was passed by the State Legislature whereby all properties of Murshidabad Estate vested in the Trustee (Official Trustee of Government of West Bengal) and the said Trustee was under the obligation to hold properties in trust for the benefit of the sons and daughters of the Late Nawab Bahadur i. e. Syed Wasif Ali Meerza. In accordance with the provisions of the said Trust Act, premises No. 85, Park Street which forms part of the Murshidabad Estate was to be used and occupied solely by the successor of Nawab of Murshidabad. It may be mentioned that at present the title of Nawab had not been conferred on anybody. The writ petitioner is one of the claimants of such title. The petitioner along with some other members of the family of late Nawab Bahadur are residing and are in occupation of premises no. 85, Park Street, Calcutta. It appears that against the move to set up a hotel at the said premises, the said writ application was filed by the petitioner for establishing his right to the title of Nawab and also to get the annuity payable to the Nawab whereupon Suhas Chandra Sen, J. on 30th August 1985 passed the following order :

(3.) THEREAFTER, the State Government requisitioned the property on 9/11/83 under section 3 (1) of the West Bengal Land (Requisition and acquisition) Act 1948 for the purpose of maintaining supplies and services essential to the life of the community or for the purposes connected therewith and incidental there to viz. for construction of Government officers/ministers. The notice as provided under Section 3 (2) of the said Act was not served upon the petitioner but was served upon the Durwan of the official Trustee of Government of West Bengal posted on the said premises on 12th November 1983 at about 12. 30p. m. The petitioner challenged this order of requisition on the ground that no notice of requisition was served upon the petitioner either as owner or occupier of the premises and secondly, the said lawn which is the subject matter of the requisition is being used by the petitioner and the family members of the Nawab of Murshidabad and the members of the Shia Community for the purpose of religious worship which is exempted under the provisions of the said act and thirdly, the purpose for which the lawn was requisitioned, was beyond the scope and ambit of the provisions of West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act 1948 and lastly, the said property which was directed to be used for a particular purpose under the said Trust Act, could not be requisitioned by the State Government in exercise of the power conferred under Section 3 (1) of the said Act.