JUDGMENT

Banerjee, J.-Leave granted

2. It is for the purposes of protecting, conserving and promoting scientific development of the resources of coking coal being a need to meet the growing requirements of iron and steel industry and for that matter connected therewith or incidental thereto, the right, title and interest of the owners of such coke oven plants have vested in the Central government w.e.f. 1st May, 1972 and by an order dated 17th August, 1972, the Central Government have directed that the right, title and interest thereto shall stand transferred to Bharat Coking Coal Ltd., Dhanbad.

3. The word vest in common English acceptation mean and imply conferment of ownership of properties upon a person and in the similar vein it gives immediate and fixed right of present and future enjoyment. Significantly, however, the expression vest is a word of variable import since it has no fixed connotation and the same has to be understood in different contexts under different set of circumstances. The decision of this court in The Fruit & Vegetable Merchants Union v. The Delhi Improvement Trust (AIR 1957 SC 344) lends concurrence to the same. It is in this context a later decision o