BANSHI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THESE are three writ petitions presented by Banshi, Ranglal and Onkarsingh respectively challenging the validity of the proceedings for consolidation of holdings carried out by the Consolidation Officer under the provisions of the Rajasthan Holdings (Consolidation and Prevention of Fragmention) Act, No. 24 of 1954 (which will hereinafter be called the "consolidation Act" ). All the petitioners are Khatedar tenants in respect of certain agricultural lands situated in their respective villages. Their case, in brief, is that the Consolidation Act received the assent of the President on the 25th day of November, 1954 and was published in Rajasthan Gazette-Part IV-A, dated 11th December, 1954. By virtue of sec. 1 (3) of this Act, Chapters I and V of the Act came into force at once, whereas for the remaining Chapters, it was provided that they would come into force in such area and from such date as the State Government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint in this behalf, and different dates may be appointed for the coming into force of different provisions of the said Chapters. It appears that under sec. 14 of the Act, with the objection of consolidating of holdings for the purpose of better cultivation of lands therein, the Director of Consolidation, Rajasthan, Jaipur, on his own motion declared by a notification his intention to make a scheme for the consolidation of holdings in the villages of the petitioners. A draft scheme was thereafter prepared and published in the prescribed manner in the areas concerned, and after finalization of the draft scheme the petitioners were allotted lands according to the scheme. The main grievance of all the petitioners is that the consolidation proceedings were carried out illegally and without authority of law, in asmuch as the provisions of Chapters III and IV of the Consolidation Act were not enforced at all, nor the procedure prescribed under the Act and the Rules made thereunder was followed. It was, therefore, prayed that the proceedings for consolidation be quashed.

(2.) THE respondents 1 to 4, namely, the State of Rajasthan and its officers submitted a joint reply to each of the Writ applications, and their contention is that the Rajasthan Holdings Consolidation Operation Validating Act, 1960 (Act No. 30 of 1960) which was published in the Rajasthan gazette Extraordinary dated 24th September, 1960 validated the consolidation operations undertaken in that area and therefore the proceedings carried out for consolidation of the petitioners' holdings cannot be challenged on that ground. THEy also asserted that all the provisions of the Act and the Rules made thereunder had been duly complied with in carrying out consolidation proceedings. THE petitioner Onkarsingh alone filed a rejoinder in which it was contended inter alia that the Rajasthan Holdings Consolidation Operation Validating Act. 1960 (which will hereinafter be called the Validating Act) can be of no avail to the respondents, in asmuch as it is an invalid piece of legislation as it did not receive the assent of the President. It may be stated that the other contention raised by the three petitioners in their writ applications are, though similar in law, slightly different on facts and therefore we first propose to deal with the contention regarding the validity of the Validating Act which is common to all the cases.

(3.) THERE is thus no escape from the conclusion that all the proceedings by the State Government and its officers in connection with consolidation of holdings of the petitioners amounted to an infringement of their fundamental rights to hold the same since this infringement took place at a time when there was no valid law to authorise the same the operations for consolidation undertaken by the State Government through its officers must also be quashed.