1. These writ petitions attack the constitutional validity of the Kerala Private Forests Vesting and Assignment Act 26 of 1971 passed into law on 23-8-197i replacing an earlier Ordinance 14 of 1971. The Act is sought to be saved only under Art.31 A of the Constitution; and bereft of the protection of that Article, it was conceded that it would be unconstitutional. The only question therefore is whether the Act qualifies for the protection of Art.31A.

2. The provisions of the Act are briefly these: The preamble states that private forests in Kerala are agricultural lands and that the Government consider that such agricultural lands should be so utilised as to increase the agricultural production in the State and to promote the welfare of the agricultural population in the State; and that to give effect to this, it is necessary that the private forests should vest in the Government. S.2 is the definition section. Clause (f) thereof defines "Private forests" in relation to the Malabar area of the State, (where the bulk of the private forests are situated) as any land to which the Madras Preservation of Private Forests Act, 1949 applied, excluding: (A) lands which are garden