Judgment

Kania, C.J.I.:- This is an application by the holder of one ordinary share of the Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Company Ltd., for a writ of mandamus and certain other reliefs under Art. 32 of the Constitution of India. The authorised capital of the Company is Rs.48 lakhs and the paid-up capital is Rs. 32 lakhs half of which is made up of fully paid ordinary shares of Rs.1000 each.

2. I have read the judgment prepared by Mukherjea J. In respect of the arguments advanced to challenge the validity of the impugned Act under Arts. 31 and l9, Constitution of India, I agree with his line of reasoning and conclusion and have nothing more to add.

3. On the question whether the impugned Act infringes Art. 14, two points have to be considered. The first is whether one individual shareholder can, under the circumstances of the case and particularly when one of the respondents is the Company which opposes the petition, challenge the validity of the Act on the ground that it is a piece of discriminatory legislation, creates inequality before the law and violates the principle of equal protection of the laws under Art. 14, Constitution of India. The second is whether in fact the petition