Deepak Gupta, J.—Because of the conflict of views in respect of- the retrospective application of the amendment made to the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act between two learned single Judges of this Court, a third Judge has referred the following substantial question of law for decision by the Division Bench : "What is the effect of proviso added towards the end of sub-section (9) of Section 104 of the H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 by the Amendment Act No. 6 of 1988 - whether it takes away the vested rights of persons which had vested in them automatically under the provisions of the Principal Act which was in force till the Amendment Act came to be legislated?" The H.P. Tenancy and Land Reforms Act (hereinafter referred to as the Act) was passed by the Himachal Pradesh Legislature on 22nd December, 1972. This Act received the assent of the President of India on 2nd February, 1974 and was published in the Himachal Pradesh Rajpatra (Extraordinary) on 21st February, 1974. It came into force at once. Section 104(3) of the Act reads as follows:— "(3) All rights, title and interest (including a contingent interest, if any) of a landowner other than a land-owner entitled to resume land under sub-section (1) shall be extinguished and all such rights, title and interest shall with effect from the date to be notified by the State Government in the Official Gazette vest in the tenant free from all encumbrances: Provided that if a tenancy is created after the commencement of this Act, the provision of this sub-section shall apply immediately after the creation of such tenancy." The Himachal Pradesh tenancy rules were framed by virtue of the powers vested under Section 21 of the Act and were notified on 3rd October, 1975. Rule 27 which is relevant for our purpose as it stood prior to the amendment reads as follows:— "27. Procedure for conferment of proprietary rights on tenants covered by sub-section (3) of Section 104.— All rights, title and interest in the tenancy land of land-owners who have already under their personal cultivation 3 acres unirrigated or 1-1/2 acres irrigated land shall vest in the non-occupancy tenants with effect from the commencement of these rules. Similarly, the proprietary rights of tenancy land of the non-occupancy tenants on Government land shall also vest in the tenants from the commencement of these rules." There is no manner of doubt that under the provisions of sub-section (3) of Section 104 and Rule 27 as originally enacted, the tenants under the Government were entitled to and automatically acquired proprietary rights from the date of commencement of the rules. The H.P. State Legislature passed Amendment Act No. 6 of 1988 which received the assent of the President of India on 25th March, 1988 and was published in the H.P. Rajpatra (Extraordinary) on 14th April, 1988. Sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Amendment Act deals with the date of its enforcement and reads as follows:— "(3) It shall be deemed to have come into force from the date of commencement of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972, but Section 3 and Section 4, in so far as it amends clause (g) and the second proviso to clause (i) of sub-section (2), sub-section (3) and sub-section (4) of Section 118 of the said Act, shall come into force at once." By means of this Amendment Act the following proviso was added after sub-section (9) of Section 104 which reads as follows: "Provided that nothing contained in this Section shall apply to such land which is either owned by or is vested in the Government under any law, whether before or after the commencement of this Act, and is leased out to any person." By this proviso the provisions of Section 104 were made inapplicable to the lands owned by the State. By virtue of sub-section (3) of Section 1 of the Amendment Act, this proviso was deemed to have been incorporated in the Act from the date of its commencement. The purpose behind the Act was to ensure that the l