Judgment

AYYANGAR, J. : These four appeals which have been filed pursuant to special leave granted by this Court principally raise for consideration the constitutional validity of S.15 of the Punjab Pre-emption Act (Act 1 of 1913) hereinafter referred to as the Act. The property involved in these appeals are agricultural lands and in each one of them decrees have been passed in favour of the pre-emptors whose claim to pre-empt was based on different sub-clauses of S.15 and the vendees who are the appellants in the several appeals challenge the constitutional validity of the law under which the suits have been decreed.

2. One of the appeals- Civil Appeal No.214 of 1961 however could be decided without considering the constitutional point regarding the validity of S.15 of the Act and it would therefore be convenient to dispose it of first. The facts giving rise to the appeal are briefly as follows: The 5th and 6th respondents before us owned certain agricultural land in village Dugri which they sold to the appellants by a deed dated April 25, 1957. Respondents 1 to 4 instituted a suit against the appellants to which the vendor-respondents 5 and 6 were also impleaded as co- defendants.