BHAGAT GOBIND SINGH Vs. PUNJAB STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS judgment will dispose of three civil writ petitions Nos. 68, 935 and 938 of 1962, the first under Articles 226 and 227 and the remaining two under Article 226 of the Constitution, in which, although other matters have been raised, but the main question for consideration is the constitutional validity and 'vires' of section 19-E of the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act, 1953 (Punjab Act 10 of 1953), which section has been added to this principal Act by Section 7 of the punjab Security of Land Tenures (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1962 (Punjab act 14 ol 1962), and Section 32-KK of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands act, 19s5 (Pepsu Act 13 of 1955), which section has been Inserted in this principal act by Section 7 of the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands (Amendment and validation) Act, 1962 Punjab Act 16 of 1962), the provisions of both the sections in either Act being verbatim the same.

(2.) IN Civil Writ No. 68 of 1962 the petitioner is Bhagat Gobind Singh and there are 18 respondents, of whom the first four respectively are the Punjab State, the financial Commissioner, the Commissioner, Jullundur Division, and the Collector, jullundur, and the remaining 14 are alienees from the petitioner.

(3.) THE father of the petitioner owned 53 standard acres in villages Paddi Jagir and bir Sher Singh on this side before the partition of the country and, of course, continued to do so even after that and in lieu of his land left in what is now pakistan he was allotted 43 stanoard acres in 1949. Sometime in 1949 he died leaving two sons one of whom is the petitioner. He left a total holding or 96 standard acres of which the share by inheritance of the petitioner is 48 standard acres. The mutation of the land in villages Paddi Jagir and Bir Sher Singh was attested in favour of the petitioner in the same year, but permanent rights in the allotted land were given to him on December 27, 1955, and mutation of inheritance in respect of this land was attested in his favour on January 19, 1956. All the same on the death of his father in 1949 the petitioner became owner of 48 standard acres, the title to the allotted land having been conferred on him a ilttle later. Punjab Act 10 of 1953 came into force on April 15, 1953, and thus on that date the land in the ownership of the petitioner was 48 standard acres. In Sub-section (3) of Section 2 of this Act 'permissible area' has been defined to be 30 standard acres and where sucli 30 standard acres on being converted into ordinary acres exceed 60 acres, such 60 acres, but in the case of a displaced person the respective figures are 50 standard acres or 100 ordinary acres where the allotment is of more than 50 standard acres, and where the allotment is of less than 30 standard acres, the permissible area is 30 standard acres, including any other and or part thereof, if any, that the land owner owns in addition. On the date of the corning into force of this Act the petitioner had 21 1/2 standard acres of allotted land and 26 1/2 standard acres of other land. So, in his case the permissible area is, in all, 30 standard acres. Under Section 5 of the Act the petitioner could reserve permissible area for self-cultivation and this was not done by the petitioner. There was an amendment of the principal Act by Punjab Act 57 of 1953, but that is not material here. The Act was again amended by the Punjab Security of Land Tenures (Amendment)Act, 1955 (Punjab Act 11 or 1955), and this Act added Sub-section (5-a) to secfion 2 of the principal Act defining the expression 'surplus area' to mean the area other than the reserved area, and, where, no area has been reserved, the area in excess of the permissible area selected as prescribed; but it Is not to include a tenant's permissible area. There is a proviso to this sub-section, but that is again not material for the present purpose. This amending Act inserted by section 8, Section 10-A in the principal Act and this section has given power to the state Government or any officer empowered by it to utilise surplus area for the resettlement of tenants described in it. This amending Punjab Act 11 of 1955 came into force on May 26, 1955.