RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR, J. :- This is a reference under S. 113 Civil P.C. by the learned Subordinate Judge of Mangalore.

2. Three suits O.S. Nos. 23 of 1951, 177 and 182 of 1952 were filed in the Court of the Subordinate Judge of Mangalore for partition of the properties belonging to three Aliyasanthana families under the provisions of S. 36, Madras Aliyasanthana Act, 1949. The immovable properties which were the subject-matter of the suits are situated in th3 district of South Kanara. Most of the defendants in the several suits reside in the State of Madras except that some of the defendants in O.S. No. 182 of 1952 are said to have settled down in Coorg long before the Act came into force.

A detailed written statement was filed, in O.S. No. 182 of 1952 by defendant 177 who was the Manager of the family in dispute which was treated by the Subordinate Judge as the main statement in the cases, and in this the plea was raised that the Madras Aliyasanthana Act, 1949 was beyond the competence of the Provincial Legislature under the Government of India Act, 1935. It was also urged that the enactment was subject to the vice of extra-territoriality.

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