The Chief Justice.-These applications are directed against the orders issued by the Government under section 3(2) of Madras Act XXX of 1947 reducing the rates of rent payable in respect of the estates of the several applicants Two main grounds were taken in these applications, namely, (1) that Madras Act XXX of 1947 was ultra vires and in any event became void after the Constitution and (2) that the Act did not apply to the properties owned by the applicants because they did not fall within the definition of “estate” in section 3(2) of the Madras Estates Land Act I of 1908.

The first ground has since been disposed of by our judgment in Rajah of Bobbili v. State of Madras (C.M.P. No. 894 of 1951, etc.)1 adverse to the applicants. The second ground remains.

The Act applies to all estates as defined in section 3(2) of the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908 [section 1(2)]. The applicants deny that their properties fall within this definition. There is no provision in the Act itself under which any special Tribunal is appointed to decide a dispute as to whether a particular property is or is not an estate within the meaning of the Act. Under section 2(1) of the Act the Provincial Government is

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