R.S.NARULA, J.

1. The following question has been referred to this Full Bench in the circumstances hereinafter detailed :-

"Whether the provisions of Section 8 of the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952, insofar as those provisions deny 15 per cent by way of solatium on the compensation awarded and also deny interest at the rate of 6 per cent, are violative of the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution."

Late Dewan Hari Krishan Khosla had one-third share in the Hindu undivided family property in village Malo Majra, tahsil and district Patiala. The large tract of land which was requisitioned by the order of the District Magistrate, Patiala, dated March 17, 1967 (Annexure A ), under sub-section (1) of Section 29 of the Defence of India Act, 1962, included 167 Bighas and 6 Biswas of land of Dewan Hari Krishan Khosla. 157 Bighas and 4 Biswas out of that land was later acquired by the Central Government under sub-section (1) of Section 7 of the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act (30 of 1952) (hereinafter called the Act) by publication of a notice to that effect in the Punjab Government Official Gazette, dated August 29, 1969