Judgment

PALEKAR. J.:- (For himself and on behalf of A. N. Ray, C. J. and Y. V. Chandrachud, J.). All the above cases involve a challenge to The Kerala Private Forests (Vesting and Assignment) Act 26 of 1971 (hereinafter called the Act) on the ground that the Act as a whole was violative of Articles 14, 19 (1) (f) (g) and 31 of the Constitution.

2. The lands involved are private forest lands situated in the former Malabar District which, after the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, stood transferred from the old State of Madras to the new State of Kerala. As a result of the Act referred to above these forest lands vest in the State, allegedly, as a measure of agrarian reform.

3. The Writ Petitions are filed in this court under Article 32 of the Constitution by several owners and/or lessees of large tracts of forest lands. The Civil Appeals are filed by the State of Kerala from the judgment and order of a Full Bench of the Kerala High Court (Reported in AIR 1973 Kerala 36) in petitions filed in that court challenging the Act. The High Court held that the provisions of the Act are not protected by Article 31A of the Constitution and accordingly declared the Act as unconstitutional and voi