Judgment

WANCHOO, J. : These two petitions raise a question as to he validity and constitutionality of R. 31 framed under the Pepsu Tenancy and Agricultural Lands Act (Act No. 13 of 1955) as mended by Pepsu Act No. 15 of 1956, hereinafter referred to as the Act) and will be dealt with together. The attack on the rule is Practically similar in the two petitions and therefore we shall only give the facts in Petition No. 261 to understand the nature of the attack. The petitioners in Petition No. 261 are landowners in village Dhamo Majra, District Patiala, in the State of Punjab. They are running an agricultural farm on a mechanised scale and the area of the farm measures 421 acres. This area is a compact block of land and it is said that some part of the area is potentially of high productivity whereas other area is of inferior quality and less productive capacity by reason of the presence of alakine (sic) patches of soil therein. The land was originally scrub jungle and was uneven and extensive reclamation was carried on by the petitioners at heavy cost. They spent a large mount for terracing and levelling the land, constructing bundhs, water channels approach roads and in standardisi