( 1 ) ON a reference made by one of us (Puttaswamy, J.) these cases were posted before us for disposal.

( 2 ) AS the petitioners in these cases have challenged the validity of one and the same Act. we propose t dispose of them by a common order.

( 3 ) AS early as on 31-12-1932, the then maharaja of Mysore, who was the sovereign ruler of the then Princely State of Mysore, a model Princely State aided by a representative assembly and a legislative council, gave Ins assent to a fairly simple enactment called the mysore Betting Tax Act, 1932 (Mysore Act 9 of 1932) (hereinafter referred to as the 1932 Act) providing for the imposition of taxes on certain forms of betting in that State. Even alter the merger of that Princely State in the Indian union, the promulgation of the Indian constitution, the formation of the new State of mysore, now called as Karnataka, under the states Reorganisation Act, 1956, the 1932 Act has continued on the statute book of the new state with its operation in the area referred to in section 1 (2) of that Act.

( 4 ) IN 1952 the then Part-B State of Mysore enacted the Mysore Race Courses Licensing act, 1952 (Mysore Act 8 of 1952) (hereinafter referred to as the

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