N. VENKATACHALA, J.

( 1 ) WRIT petition No. 7230/1979 of Kudli Sringeri Maha Samsthanam (for short 'kudli sringeri mutt') and writ petition No. 2590/1979 of the state of Karnataka (for short 'the state'), which were heard by us as a division bench, on a reference made by a learned single judge under Section 9 of the Karnataka High Court Act, 1961, are being disposed of by this common order.

( 2 ) AS questions of constitutionality of certain statutory Provisions and the validity of the orders made under certain statutory Provisions, arising for our consideration and decision in these writ petitions, could be better appreciated and decided upon, on the basis of the undisputed factual antecedents and the statutory law bearing upon them, it would be convenient to advert to the same at the very outset.

( 3 ) KUDLI sringeri mutt in the Mysore area of karnataka, founded by the greatseer aadi shankaracharya is an ancient institution of religious teachings and instructions. In about the year 1870, the then maharaja of the princely state of mysore, who was interested in propagation of hindu philosophy and imparting of hindu religious instructions, granted to kudli sringeri mutt by way of inam, machenahalli, shcttihalli, javalli, vallikeshapura, malalakoppa, gavataru, sanyasikoppa, gopagondanahalli and kanasinakatte, in shimoga district comprised of a vast extent of 5,567 acres 30 guntas of cultivable land and uncultivable land, for its upkeep and to support its activities relating to religious teachings and instructions. In the revenue settlement of the said villages, which took place in the year 1872, they were held to belong to kudli sringeri mutt and were settled as its inam villages. Thereafter,kudli sringeri mutt, which was regarded as the inamdar of the said nine inam villages, came to collect the income included got from them annually and intermitently and use such income for its upkeep and its activities of religious teachings and instructions. Such income the annual rental income got from the tenants of agricultural lands in those inam villages.

( 4 ) WHEN the said inam villages, which were located within the area of erst while state of mysore, had to be covered by a legislative measure of agrarian reform, intended to confer absolute rights of ownership on tenants in occupation of agricultural lands falling in inams and inam villages, brought about as Mysore (religious and charitable) inams abolition Act, 1955 (for short 'the Principal Act'), by the then Mysore state legislature, the Provisions thereof provided for abolition of religious and charitable inams and inam villages which existed in the then state of mysore,

( 5 ) BY sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the Principal Act, that act's operation was extended to the whole of the Mysore area except bcllary district of the then state of mysore. By clause (a) of sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Principal Act, that act was made to apply to all religious inams including the aforementioned nine inam villages of kudli sringeri mutt in Mysore area. Sub-section (4) of section. l thereof, which stated that sections 1,2,34 and 36 shall come into force at once, declared that the rest of the Principal Act shall come into force respecting inam villages on such dates as the government may, by notification, specify in respect of each such inam village. The definition clause in sub-section (2) of Section 2 of the Principal Act defined the date of vesting, thus:" (2) 'date of vesting' in relation to an inam means the date appointed by a notification issued under sub-section (4) of Section 1 to be the date on which the Provisions of this act other than sections 2, 34 and 36 shall come into force in such inam".

( 6 ) THOUGH sections 1, 2, 34 and 36 of the Principal Act happened to come in to force on 1-9-1955, the date of vesting appointed in relation to the aforesaid nine inam villages of kudli sringeri mutt by a notification issued under Section 1 (4) of the same Principal Act, was 1-4-1959.

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