( 1 ) THE facts in this case are shortly as follows: The Rajmahal Manikchowk Ferry, with its subsidiary ferries at Soneghat, and Narainpur, more popularly known as the Rajmahal Ferry is an inter-state ferry, plying between Malda in West Bengal and Rajmahal in Behar. So far as this application is concerned, I have jurisdiction only with regard to that part of the ferry which lies within the State of West Bengal. The West Bengal Government. has made a declaration, under power conferred by d. (a)' of Section 6 of Bengal Ferries Act, 1885, that the ferry known as the "rajmahal Ferry" on the Ganga at Manikchak Sadarghat within the limits of the Manichak Police Station in the district of Malda, including the subsidiary ferry at Narainpur, shall be deemed to be and to have always been, a public ferry, and that for the purposes of the said Act, the said Ferry shall be deemed to be and to have always been situated in the district of Malda. The fact is that the ferry existed even before the Province of Behar was separated from Bengal, and in the year 1951 the State of West Bengal and the State of Behar have jointly decided that the ferry as a whole would be administered by the Dis