( 1 ) THE short and important point involved in this Rule is whether the West Bengal Estates Acquisition (2nd Amendment) Act, 1973 is a valid piece of legislation. The amendment which is a subject matter of the litigation is as follows: - ?the West Bengal Estates Acquisition (Second Amendment) Act, 1973?. An act to amend the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953. Whereas it is expedient to amend the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953, for the purposes and in the manner hereinafter appearing; it is hereby enacted in the twenty-fourth Year of the Republic of India, by the Legislature of West Bengal, as follows: - 1. This Act may be called the West Bengal Estates Acquisition (Second Amendment) Act, 1973. 2. In the West Bengal Estates Acquisition Act, 1953 (hereinafter referred to as said Act), for the proviso to sub-section (1) of section 7, the following proviso shall be substituted, namely: - ?provided that where the intermediary agrees in writing that the whole of the compensation money payable to him including the amount recovered by the State Government under the provisions of section 9, if any, may be adjusted against the arrears recoverable