TMI Blog1953 (12) TMI 22X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... in East Bengal,and it provides for the acquisition and development of land for public purposes' including the purpose aforesaid. A registered Society called the West Bengal Settlement Kanungoe Co-operative Credit Society Ltd., respondent No. 4 herein, was authorised to undertake a development scheme, and the Government of the State of West Bengal, the appellant herein, acquired and made over certain lands to the society for purposes of the development scheme on payment of the estimated- cost of the acquisition. On July 28, 1950, the respondents I to 3, the owners of the lands thus acquired, instituted a suit in the Court of the Subordinate Judge, 11 Court at Alipore, District 24- Parganas, against the society for a declaration that the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... et value of the land on the date of publication of the notification under sub-section (1) of section 4 for the notified area in which the land is included subject to the following condition, that is to say- if such market value exceeds by any amount the market value of the land on the 3 1 st day of December, 1946, on the assumption that the land had been at that date in the state in which it in fact was on the date of publication of the said notification, the amount of such excess shall not be taken into consideration. The provision making the declaration of the Government conclusive as to the public nature of the purpose of the acquisition and the limitation of the amount of compensation so as not to exceed the market value of the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... as a law to which the provisions of clause (6) did not apply and, therefore, as an existing law, the impugned Act was not affected by clause (2) of that article. The argument is manifestly unsound. Article 31(6) is intended to save a State law enacted within 18 months before the commencement of the Constitution provided the same was certified by the President while, article 31(5) saves all existing laws passed more than 18 months before the commencement of the Constitution. Reading the two clauses together, the intention is clear that an existing law passed within 18 months before January 26, 1950, is not to be saved unless it was submitted to the President within three months from such date for his certification and was certified by him. T ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ch such compensation is to be given. It is argued that the term compensation in entry 42 could not mean full cash equivalent, for then, the power conferred on the legislature to lay down the principles on which compensation is to be determined and the form and the manner in which such compensation is to be given would be rendered nugatory. On the other hand, the entry showed that the compensation to be given was only such compensation as was determined on the principles. laid down by the law enacted in exercise of the power, and, as the concluding words used in article 31(2) are substantially the same as in the entry, the Constitution, it was claimed, left scope for legislative discretion in determining the measure of the inde ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... n just terms from any State or person.......... (cf. Grace Brothers Pty. Ltd. v. The Commonwealth(1). Those decisions, therefore, are of no assistance to the appellant here. Turning now to the provisions relating to compensation under the impugned Act, it will be seen that the latter part of the proviso to section 8 limits the amount of compensation so as not to exceed the market value of the land on December 31, 1946, no matter when the land is acquired. Considering that the impugned Act is a permanent enactment and lands may be acquired under it many years after it came in. to force, the fixing of the market value on December 31,1946, as the ceiling on compensat I ion, without reference to the value of the land at the time of the acq ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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