Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : These seventy-one appeals on certificates granted by the Judicial Commissioner of Vindhya Pradesh arise out of seventy petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution filed before that Court challenging the constitutionality of the Vindhya Pradesh Abolition of Jagirs and Land Reforms Act, No. 11 of 1952, (hereinafter called the Act). They were disposed of by a common judgment by the Judicial Commissioner. We shall also dispose of these appeals by a common judgment. Seventy (Nos. 40 to 109), out of these appeals, are by the State of Vindhya Pradesh (now Madhya Pradesh) while one (No. 110) is by Brijindar Singh, a jagirdar.

2. The case of the petitioners in the Court of the Judicial Commissioner was that the Act was unconstitutional as various provisions in it placed an unreasonable restriction on the exercise of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the petitioners under Part III of the Constitution. The Judicial Commissioner held that the Act was constitutional, except for three provisions thereof, namely, S. 22(1), S. 37 and cl. 4(e) of the Schedule to the Act. The seventy appeals by the State are with respect to this part of the order declaring these three provisions unconstitutional. The appeal of Brijindar Singh is against that part of the order by which the rest of the Act was held constitutional.

3. We shall first deal with the appeal of Brijindar Singh. Learned counsel for Brijindar Singh was unable - and in our opinion rightly - to challenge the constitutionality of the Act as a whole in view of Art. 31-A of the Constitution and the decisions of this Court in State of Bihar v. Kameshwar Singh, 1952 SCR 889, Visweshwar Rao v. State of Madhya Pradesh, 1952 SCR 1020, Raja Suriya Pal Singh v. State of U. P.,1952 SCR 1056, Gajapati Narayan Deo v. State of Orissa, 1954 SCR 1, Thakur Amar Singhji v. State of Rajasthan, 1955-2 SCR 303, Bhairebendra Narayan Bhup v. State of Assam, 1956 SCR 303. Sri Ram Ram Narain v. State of Bombay, AIR 1959 SC 459, Raghbir Singh v. State of Ajmer, AIR 1959 SC 475, & Atma Ram v. State of Punjab, AIR 1959 SC 475, & Atma Ram v. State of Punjab, AIR 1959 SC 519, relating to similar legislation in the States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan, Assam, Bombay, Ajmer and Punjab. It is not necessary therefore to examine the provisions of the Act in detail. In the circumstances, Appeal No. 110 is dismissed; but as it was not pressed we think it right that the parties should bear their own costs of this appeal.

4. Now we turn to the appeals by the State. The object of the Act is to resume jagir-lands. Section 5 provides for the appointment of a date for the resumption of any class of jagir-land by notification and power is given to the State Government to fix different dates for different classes of jagir-lands. Section 6 provides for the consequences of such resumption. Section 7, however, lays down that notwithstanding anything contained in S. 6, certain lands will remain in possession of jagirdars and cl. (a) thereof is material and may be quoted here-

"The jagirdar shall continue to remain in possession of his sir and khudkasht to the extent and subject to the conditions and restrictions specified in Ch. IV."

Section 10 and the subsequent sections appearing in Ch. III of the Act provides for compensation and the Schedule provides the manner in which the compensation shall be computed. Then comes Ch. IV, which deals with sir and khudkasht lands. Section 20 provides for an application by the jagirdar for allotment of land for personal cultivation. Section 21 provides for an enquiry by the Tahsildar on such application in the prescribed manner, and the allotment of land and the issue of a patta thereof to the jagirdar having regard to the remaining provisions of the Chapter. Then comes S. 22, which may be quoted in full-

"(1) A jagirdar shall be allotted all sir and khudkasht land which he was cultivating personally for a continuous period of three years immediate