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2015 (8) TMI 1110 - SC - Indian LawsConstitutional validity of the Kerala Cashew Factories (Acquisition) Act, 1974 - Held that:- No Section of the principal Act had been struck down and hence Section 6 of the Amendment Act did not need to remove the basis of any earlier decision striking down an Act. We repeatedly asked him if action had been taken under Section 3(1) or 3A of the Amendment Act to acquire any of the cashew factories before us. His candid answer was "no". The argument that Section 6 contains a third source of power to acquire cashew factories merely by putting them in a schedule has to be rejected on two fundamental grounds. First, no notice or hearing is provided as in Section 3 or Section 5A of the Land Acquisition Act or any other safeguard such as a resolution of the legislative assembly supporting such acquisition as in Section 3A. If acquisition is to take place in conformity with law rules of natural justice cannot be bypassed. - Section 6 directly seeks to upset a final judgment inter-parties and is bad on this count and is thus declared unconstitutional. Kerala Legislature wished to interfere with two judgments of the Supreme Court making no distinction between factories that were managed by the Cashew Development Corporation (the 36 factories) and CAPEX (the 10 factories). It is interesting to note that apart from the Government suffering financially (if the factories are to be handed back), there will be large scale unemployment among workers in the cashew industry. - It is clear that the objects and reasons for the Amendment Act makes no differentiation between the 36 factories handed back and the 10 factories taken over by the Amendment Act. The High Court was in error in saying that there was an intelligible differentia between the two. Further, even otherwise, there is no difference between factories which post acquisition are run by the Cashew Development Corporation or CAPEX regard being had to the object sought to be achieved - namely to avoid unemployment of cashew workers. Both the Cashew Development Corporation and CAPEX, along with the Government, will suffer financially. In fact, the handing back of only 36 factories would be patently discriminatory as all 46 factories are similarly situate and have been treated as such by the State by issuing common notices to all of them under Section 3 of the Act. We have been reliably informed that these 36 factories are functioning under their respective owners for the last twenty years. In the circumstances we hold that there is no intelligible differentia between the 36 factories and the 10 factories taken over having any rational relation with the object sought to be achieved and on this ground also Section 6 of the Amendment Act deserves to be struck down as violating Article 14 of the Constitution. - judgment of the High Court is set aside and it is ordered that the cashew factories and the land appurtenant thereto that have been taken over by the State under the Amending Act must be handed back within a period of eight weeks from the date on which this judgment is pronounced. - Decided in favour of Appellant.
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