The provisions of the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954, and the Rules made thereunder must be strictly followed in dealing with evacuee property, including urban agricultural land.

1. Numerous displaced persons left urban agricultural lands in Pakistan. They were allotted similar lands in Indian whenever possible under evacuee legislation. Some of these displaced persons who owned such lands within the corporation area of Lahore and within the municipal limits of Gujranwala were leased or allotted similar lands within the municipal area of Jullundur, Ferozepore and Amritsar. When the Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act 1954, was enacted, the Government acquired these lands and put them in the compensation pool. The Central Government on 4-6-1957 issued a press note indicating the method by which these lands would be permanently transferred. Another press note was issued on 15-10-1958 modifying the previous press note. The Chief Settlement Commissioner on 27-11-1958 issued a memorandum purporting to clarify the terms of the press notes issued by the Central Government. According to these instructions the lessees of urban agricultural lands were given the right to select one plot, that is, one khasra number of the value of less than Rs. 10,000.00 and the rest was intended to be sold by auction. Accordingly the Managing Officer called upon the displaced persons concerned to make the necessary selection for permanent transfer thereof to them Dissatisfied with these demands some of the displaced persons have filed separate petitions under Art. 226 of the Constitution challenging the validity of these Government press notes and the memorandum issued by the Chief Settlement Commissioner. Some of these petitions are these (Civil Writs Nos. 345, 346, 352, 353, 364, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 395 and 711 of 1959). The learned counsel for both sides agree that in spite of different facts in each petition, the question that requires determination in all these cases is the same and that it will be convenient to decide them all by one judgment. In fact only Civil Writ No. 395 of 1959 was argued before me and it was stated that the same arguments are relevant in all other petitions. I shall, therefore, decide all these writ petitions by this judgment.

2. When in 1947 at the time of partition of the country Hindus and Sikhs migrated en masses from West Punjab and Muslims left this country, it became necessary to resettle the displaced persons and to get the evacuee lands cultivated. The mode adopted for giving evacuee lands to the displaced persons is described in detail by Shri Tarlok Singh in his well known Land Resettlement manual and this Manual has been accepted by the Supreme Court as a work of authority. At page 100 of this Manual Shri Tarlok Singh has stated--

"By an agreement between the two Dominions (Indian and Pakistan) agricultural property has been defined as land not included within the limits of a Corporation, Municipal Committee, Notified Area Committee. Town Area, Small Town Committee and Cantonment, as these limits stood on 15-8-1947.......... For this reason the general scheme of land resettlement comprises only those evacuee lands which re not by definition urban lands. From the area abandoned by a displaced person, therefore, land held by him in an urban area has been placed in a separate category and only the balance of his land, described as agricultural property, is subjected to valuation and cut with a view to allotment of agricultural land in East Punjab and Pepsu."

The resettlement scheme, therefore, does not deal with urban agricultural land. It, however, deals with agricultural land in the suburbs of a city of town but by evaluating it at a higher figure on account of its location. It is, therefore, clear that under the Administration of Evacuee Property Act, 1950, the urban agricultural land was considered to belong to a special category and was leased and allotted as such to displaced persons who had left similar lands in Pakistan.

3 These leases and allotments made by the Custodian were, however, of temporary nature. In 1954 the Government of India came to the c