JUDGMENT - ASHOK AGARWAL, J.:---The property in dispute is an agricultural land bearing Gat Nos. 1550 and 1551, admeasuring 0.51 Ares, situate in Village Erandole, Taluka Miraj, District Sangli. Under a sale-deed dated May 12, 1980, the petitioner has purchased the same from respondent No. 2. The said land is a fragment within the definition of the term "Fragment" under sub-section (4) of section 2 of the Bombay Prevention of Fragmentation and Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1947 (hereinafter referred to for the sake of brevity as "the Act"). The petitioner not being an owner of a contiguous survey number, the validity of the transaction under section 7(1) of the Act falls for our consideration in the present writ petition.

2. A further question that has fallen for our consideration in the present writ petition is in respect of the vires of section 7 of the Act. The question has been raised by the earlier Division Bench, which seized of the matter (Coram : A.M. Bhattacharjee, C.J. V.P. Tipnis, J.), who by order passed on June 28, 1994 raised the following issue and issued notice to the learned Advocate-General to answer the question of the vires and validity of section 7(1) of t

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