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1951 Supreme(All) 105

IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
Sapru and C. B. Agarwala, JJ.
GOVINDI - Appellant
Versus
STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH - Respondents
Writ Appln. 3451 Of 1951
Decided On : 07/09/1951

Advocates Appeared:
P.M.VARMA

Headnote:

{'KEYWORD': 'U. P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951', 'SUBJECT': 'Validity of the Act', 'ACT SECTION LIST': ['Article 31 (2)', 'Article 31 (4)', 'Entry 36 of list II', 'Entry 42 of list III', 'Section 68']}

Fact of the Case:

The petitioner challenged the validity of the U. P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951, arguing that it was unconstitutional on various grounds.

Finding of the Court:

The court upheld the validity of the Act, holding that the State Legislature had the power to pass the Act, that the Act provided for compensation, and that the provisions of the Act were protected by Article 31 (4) of the Constitution.

Issues: 1. Whether the State Legislature had the power to pass the Act, given that it provided for payment of compensation by bonds rather than in cash. 2. Whether the Act was confiscatory in nature and therefore invalid. 3. Whether the State Legislature had the power to enact the Act in light of the existence of the Land Acquisition Act, a Central legislation dealing with compensation for acquisition of property. 4. Whether Article 31 (4) of the Constitution merely barred a remedy but did not cure the illegality of the Act. 5. Whether there was a public purpose behind the Act, given that the land acquired was to be transferred to tenants. 6. Whether Article 31 (4) could cure the invalidity of the Act, considering that there was no Bill pending in the Legislature of the State at the commencement of the Constitution.

Ratio Decidendi: 1. The State Legislature had the power to pass the Act, as the subject matter of acquisition or requisitioning of property was within its legislative competence under Entry 36 of List II of the 7th Schedule of the Constitution. The absence of legislation under Entry 42 of List III, which dealt with principles of compensation, did not prevent the State Legislature from making any enactment with respect to the subject of acquisition or requisitioning of property. 2. The Act was not confiscatory in nature, as it provided for compensation, even if the compensation paid to some landowners was low. 3. The State Legislature had the power to enact the Act despite the existence of the Land Acquisition Act, as the impugned Act was reserved for the consideration of the President and received his assent, making it valid under Article 254 (2) of the Constitution. 4. Article 31 (4) of the Constitution cured the illegality of the Act, as it barred any remedy for the enforcement of the rights guaranteed under Article 31 (2). 5. There was a public purpose behind the Act, as it aimed to abolish the zamindari system and distribute land to tenants. 6. Article 31 (4) could cure the invalidity of the Act, as there was a Bill pending in the Legislature of the State at the commencement of the Constitution, which was continued in the new Parliament under Article 389.

Final Decision: The court dismissed the petition and upheld the validity of the U. P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, 1951.

C. B. AGARWALA, J.

( 1 ) THIS is one out of numerous writ applications filed in this Court questioning the validity of the u. P. Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act, No. 1 of 1951, hereinafter referred to as "the act" or "the impugned Act". The validity of the Act has been upheld in a recent decision of a full Bench of this Court, vide suryapal Singh v. Government of the State of Uttar Pradesh, 1951 a. L. J. 365.

( 2 ) SRI Prem Mohan Verma, learned counsel for the applicant, however, urges that there are several points that arise in the case which were not argued before the Pull Bench and hence were not dealt with by that Bench, He contends that the Act is invalid for several reasons.

( 3 ) THE first ground argued is that apart from the provisions of Article 31 (2), the State Legislature was incompetent to legislate with regard to the acquisition of the property of the intermediaries on condition of payment of compensation by means of bonds. It is urged that the condition of payment of compensation by bonds is no payment of compensation at all, inasmuch as a bond is merely a promise to pay in future and is not equivalent to payment in cash. It is further urged that the State Legislature under the powers given to it, under entry 36 of list II of the 7th schedule, can only legislate with regard to acquisition of property, if there had been an enactment laying down principles of cash payment under entry 42 of list III; and as the principles of payment of compensation laid down in the impugned Act are not principles of payment of cash compensation, they are no principles at all and consequently the State Legislature could not pass the Act.

( 4 ) NO doubt, Section 68 of the Zamindari Abolition Act makes it possible for the State government to prescribe that compensation shall be payable entirely in bonds and it may be assumed that a bond is a promise to pay in future and that it does not amount to payment in cash

"in presenti. That, however, does not mean that there is no payment of compensation whatsoever. But assuming, for the sake of argument, that no payment of compensation is provided for in the Act, the question still remains whether the State Legislature had the power to pass the Act. The argument is based upon the words "subject to" that appear in entry 36 of list II and upon the word "compensation" appearing in entry 42 list III. This argument was considered by the Full Bench and it was held that "the words subject to the provisions of entry 42 of list III do not by themselves mean that the state Legislature cannot legislate with respect to the acquisition of property unless there is a public purpose and only on payment of compensation. "

It may be added that the various entries are not powers of legislation but fields of legislation. Where one entry is made subject to another entry, all that it means is that out of the scope of the former entry a field of legislation covered by the latter entry has been reserved to be specially dealt with by the appropriate legislature. The subject-matter of entry 36 of list II is acquisition or requisitioning of property except for the purposes of the Union. The subject-matter of entry 42 of list III is the principles on which compensation for the property acquired or requisitioned is to be determined and the form and manner in which such compensation is to be given. Out of the field of legislation on the subject-matter of acquisition or requisition of property except for the purpose of Union, the subject-matter concerned with the principles of compensation and form and manner in which it is to be given is taken out and reserved to be legislated upon by the union or the State. If there is no legislation under entry 42 of list III, there is nothing to prevent the State Legislature from making any enactment with respect to the subject of acquisition or requisitioning of property. The power to legislate is given in Article 246. Under that Article a state Legislature has power to legisla

















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