Judgement

WANCHOO, J. : These six petitions under Art. 32 of Constitution raise a common question about the constitutionality of the Madras Land Reforms (Fixation of Ceiling on Land) Act, No 58 of 1961, (hereinafter referred to as the Act), which was assented to by the President on April 13, 1962 and came into force on publication in the Fort St. George Gazette on May 2, 1962. The constitutionality of the Act is attacked on the ground that it violates Arts. 14, 19 and 31 (2) of the Constitution. It is not necessary to set out in full the attack made on the constitutionality of the Act in these petitions. It will be enough if we indicate the two main attacks on the constitutionality of the Act under Art. 14. The first of these is with respect to S. 5 of the Act which lays down the ceiling area. The second is on S. 50 of the Act read with Sch. III thereof, which provides for compensation. It is urged that the Act is not protected under Art. 31-A of the Constitution and is therefore open to attack in case it violates Arts. 14, 19 or 31. The petitioners in this connection rely on the judgment of this Court in K. Kunhikoman v. State of Kerala, 1962 Supp (1) SCR 829.

2. Before we consider the two main attacks on the constitutionality of the Act we may briefly indicate the Scheme of the Act. Chapter I is preliminary, S. 3 thereof provides for various definitions, some of which we shall refer to later. Chapter II deals with fixation of ceiling on land holdings. Section 5 thereof fixes the ceiling area. The other sections provide for determining surplus land and S. 18 provides for the acquisition of surplus land which vests in the Government free from all encumbrances. Chapter III provides for ceiling on future acquisition and restriction on certain transfers. Chapter IV provides for the constitution and functions of the land board Chapter V provides for the constitution and functions of the sugar factory board. Chapter VI provides for compensation. Section 50 thereof read with Sch. III lays down the mode for determining compensation for the land acquired by the Government and other ancillary matters. Chapter VII provides for survey and settlement of lands in the transferred territory which came to the State of Madras by virtue of the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. Chapter VIII provides for cultivating tenants ceiling area. Chapter IX provides for exemption of certain land from the application of the Act. Chapter X provides for land tribunals and Chapter XI for appeals and revision. Chapter XII provides for certain penalties and procedure while Chapter XIII provides for disposal of land acquired by the Government under the Act. Chapter XIV deals with miscellaneous provisions, including S. 110, which provides for the framing of rules.

3. The main purpose of the Act is to provide for a ceiling on land holdings, for determining surplus land which would be acquired by Government and for payment of compensation therefor. The Act is applicable to agricultural land as defined in S. 3(22) and is mainly concerned with persons holding lands in ryotwari settlement or in any other way subject to payment of revenue direct to the Government. It is not in dispute that the Act is not protected under Art. 31-A of the Constitution and it is in this background that we shall consider the attack based on Art. 14 on the two main provisions of the Act relating to ceiling area under S. 5 and compensation under S. 50 read with Sch. III of the Act.

4. It is first necessary to read certain definitions in S. 3. Section 3(14) defines family as follows :-

" family in relation to a person means the person, the wife or husband as the case may be, of such person and his or her-

(i) minor sons and unmarried daughters; and

(ii) minor grandsons and unmarried grand-daughters in the male line, whose father and mother are dead."

It is unnecessary to refer to the explanation of S. 3(14) for present purposes. Section 3(34) is in these terms :-

" person includes any trust com