Judgment

VENKATARAMIAH, J. :- These appeals by special leave are filed against the common judgment in eight writ petitions on the file of the, High Court of Gujarat. The respondents in these appeals i.e. the petitioners in the said writ petitions questioned the applicability of the provisions of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (Act 33 of 1976) (hereinafter referred to as the Act) to several pieces of land belonging to them situated within the limits of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. They raised three contentions before the High Court (i) that the Act was beyond the legislative competence of Parliament in so far as the State of Gujarat was concerned; (ii) that the lands in question were not vacant lands as defined in the Act and, therefore, the proceedings instituted in respect of them under the Act were liable to be quashed; and (iii) that the land acquisition proceedings under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 which had been initiated in respect of the lands in question should be completed and the Land Acquisition Officer should be directed to pass awards in favour of the respondents. The writ petitions were resisted by the State of Gujarat and despite such opposition the High Court allowed the writ petitions. The High Court negatived the contention of the respondents regarding the legislative competence of Parliament to pass the Act in view of the decision in Union of India v. Valluri Basavaiah, (1979) 3 SCR 802. The High Court, however, quashed the proceedings instituted under the Act in respect of the aforesaid lands which were pending before the Additional Collector and the Competent Authority, Ahmedabad. While the High Court declined to issue a writ in the nature of mandamus directing the Land Acquisition Officer, before whom the proceedings commenced under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 were pending as he had not been made a party to the writ petitions, it, however, made a declaration that the land acquisition proceedings did not suffer from any infirmity. Indirectly the High Court indicated that the land acquisition proceedings should be proceeded with. Aggrieved by the judgment of the High Court the appellants have filed these appeals by special leave.

2. The principal question which arises for consideration in this case is whether the lands in question are the lands to which the Act would apply. The Act came into force with effect from 17-2-1976. The object of the Act, as can be seen from its preamble, is to provide for the imposition of a ceiling on vacant land in urban agglomerations, for the acquisition of such land in excess of the ceiling limit, to regulate the constructions of buildings on such land and for matters connected therewith, with a view to preventing the concentration of urban land in the hands of a few persons and speculation and profiteering therein and with a view to bringing about an equitable distribution of land in urban agglomerations to subserve the common good. Section 3 of the Act, which may be considered to be the key section of the Act, provides that except as otherwise provided in the Act, on and from the commencement of the Act, no person shall be entitled to hold any vacant land in excess of the ceiling limit in the territories to which the Act applies under sub-s. (2) of S. 1. The State of Gujarat is one of the States to which the Act has been made applicable by virtue of the provisions in sub-s. (2) of S. 1 of the Act. The ceiling limit is prescribed by S. 4 of the Act. The expression vacant land is defined in S. 2(q) of the Act thus :-

"2(q). Vacant land means land, not being land mainly used for the purpose of agriculture, in an urban agglomeration, but does not include -

(i) land on which construction of a building is not permissible under the building regulations in force in the area in which such land is situated;

(ii) in an area where there are building regulations, the land occupied by any building which has been constructed before, or is being constructed on