The State Government does not have the power to requisition property for a public purpose which is a purpose of the Union.

CHAGLA, C.J. :- This appeal arises out of a petition filed by the petitioner to challenge a requisitioning order. The petitioner is a tenant of a certain room on the second floor of Dadachanji Building situated at Mazagaon, and the requisition order complained of was passed on 12-1-1952. The order was passed under cl.(a) of sub-S.(4) of S.6, Bombay Land Requisition Act, 1948, and the order stated that the premises were being requisitioned for a public purpose, viz. for housing a member of the staff of a Foreign Consulate. The petition came before Tendolkar, J., and the learned Judge dismissed it.

2. Now, various points have been urged before us by Mr. Gamadia on behalf of the petitioner. In our opinion, it is sufficient to dispose of this appeal on one ground alone and it is unnecessary to consider the other grounds raised in the appeal. It is contended by Mr. Gamadia that housing a member of the staff of a Foreign Consulate is not a public purpose. We are unable to agree with that contention. We agree with the view taken by the learned Judge that housing a member of the staff of a Foreign Consulate does constitute a public purpose. It is obvious that it is so because if a Foreign Consulate is stationed in Bombay, it does serve a public purpose. A Foreign Consul renders services to the public by giving the public information about trade and commerce in the country of which he is a Consul, he gives visas for those wishing to travel to the foreign country, and he also performs certain notarial duties. But the other contention raised by Mr. Gamadia is that although housing a member of the staff of a Foreign Consulate may be a public purpose, it is not a purpose of the State but a purpose of the Union, and therefore the State Government did not possess the power under the Act to requisition the property jar a public purpose which was a purpose of the Union and not of the State.

3. Now, both S.5 and S.6 give the power to the State Government to requisition property for the purpose of the State or any other public purpose, and the Advocate Generals contention is that the purpose for which this property has been requisitioned is a public purpose and therefore it is unnecessary to consider whether it is a purpose of the State or a purpose of the Union. According to the Advocate General, there may be a purpose which may neither be the purpose of the Union nor the purpose of the State, and yet may be a purpose. The Advocate General says that if we are satisfied that the public is benefited by a Foreign Consulate being stationed in Bombay, then we must hold that finding accommodation for a member of the staff of that Consulate is a public purpose, and if we are satisfied, then it is unnecessary further to investigate whether that purpose is a purpose of the State or a purpose of the Union. In our opinion, every public purpose must be either a purpose of the Union or a purpose of the State. The Constitution casts upon the Union and the State the obligation not only to legislate only with regard to matters which are specified in the Lists to the 7th Schedule, but also to exercise their, respective executive functions with regard to those matters. In a sense it may be said that everything that the State does and everything that the Union does is for a public purpose, but the Constitution demarcates the functions of the State and of the Union. The State must act within its own ambit and the Union must act within its own ambit, and when they are so acting within their own respective ambits, they are, in everything they do, serving a public purpose. It is difficult to contemplate a public purpose which is not a purpose of the State or a purpose of the Union. In this particular case it is clear from the Union List that diplomatic, consular and trade representation is a Union subject, that legislation with regard to this subject can only be undertaken by the Union, and turning to Art.162 of the Constitution, the executive power of the Sta