TMI Blog1954 (10) TMI 49X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (1)(f) and 31(2) of the Constitution. 3. The respondents are either the owners or the tenants of the premises requisitioned. In Civil Appeal No. 145 of 1952 the respondents are uncle and nephew. The uncle, who is the first respondent, is the tenant. The second respondent is his nephew. He and his family live with the first respondent in the requisitioned premises. In Civil Appeal No. 146 of 1952 the premises are owned by a trust. The first and second respondents are the trustees and the third respondent claims to be a licensee living on the premises. The State of Bombay contends that he is a tenant but that is no longer of consequence because of the assurance given by the learned Attorney-General that the possession of the petitioners in this case will not be disturbed for any reason arising out of these proceedings. In Civil Appeal No. 147 of 1952 there is only one respondent, a private limited company which occupies the requisitioned premises as a tenant for the purposes of its business. 4. The Act of 1948 would have expired in April, 1950, but its life was extended by Bombay Act II of 1950. Later, sections 5 and 6 were amended by Bombay Act XXXIX of 1950. As the later Acts ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... e excluded if there is the slightest vestige of a right on which the article can operate. This has also been answered in substance in Dwarkadas Shrinivas of Bombay v. The Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Co. Ltd. Others [1954]1SCR674 . These articles deal with substantial and substantive rights and not with illusory phantoms of title. When every form of enjoyment which normally accompanies an interest in this king of property is taken away leaving the mere husk of title, article 19 is not attracted. As was said by one of us in Dwarkadas Shrinivas of Bombay v. The Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Co. Ltd. Others [1954]1SCR674 By substantial deprivation is meant the sort of deprivation that substantially robs a man of those attributes of enjoyment which normally accompany rights to, or an interest in, property. The form is unessential. It is the substance that one must seek. 8. In the present case, the right to occupy the premises has gone as also the right to transfer, assign, let or sub-let. What is left is but the mere husk of title in the leasehold interest: a forlorn hope that the force of this law will somehow expend itself before the lease runs out. 9. That bring ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ng a person having no housing accommodation on the date of the said order cited above. 15. It was argued that this subsequent specification of the purpose is of no avail and that in any case it is an evident afterthought and not true. 16. In our opinion, it is not necessary to set out the purpose of the requisition in the order. The desirability of such a course is obvious because when it is not done proof of the purpose must be given in other ways and that exposes the authorities to the kind of charges we find here and to the danger that the Courts will consider them well founded. But in itself an omission to set out the purpose in the order is not fatal so long as the facts are established to the satisfaction of the Court in some other way. The underlying principle of our decision in Biswabhusan Naik v. The State of Orissa 1954CriLJ1002 applies here. 17. In the present set of cases there is proof of a public purpose. It is given in the affidavits made on behalf of the State and in the subsequent orders just quoted, namely to house the homeless. At that time the housing situation in Bombay was acute, largely due to the influx of refugees. Questions of public decen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... sent allotments there was no intention to benefit the public at large but to keep a privileged preserve for Government servants, and in order to put pressure on landlords and tenants to disclose vacancies which could be added to this privileged pool rewards were handed out to houseless first informers by giving them the vacancies they were instrumental in discovering. This, it was hoped, would show landlords and tenants that suppression did not pay and so they might as well obey the law, and that, in turn, would enable Government to benefit the only privileged class of persons it had any real intention of benefiting, namely its own officers and servants. This conclusion is strengthened by the fact that when the decision about suppressed vacancies and first informers was made in 1947, and again when the Bombay Land Requisition Act was passed in 1948, there was no need for a public purpose. So runs the argument. 21. Another argument was that in the affidavit in reply the State of Bombay says that the purpose of the legislation was to affect an equitable distribution. The policy of the Government was that having regard to the fact that but for such intimation a vacancy would n ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... il Appeal No. 146 of 1952 a further question arises. Under the Act only premises (to which a special meaning is given) within the meaning of section 4(3) can be requisitioned. It was urged that the premises in this case were not premises within the meaning of that definition, so it was said they could not be requisitioned. The question turns on whether the premises were let or intended to be let . The learned trial Judge threw the burden of proof on the State Government and told its learned counsel that he should proceed to prove this fact if he so desired. He replied that he did not intend to lead any evidence. It was explained to us that Government took up this attitude as it wanted a decision about where the burden lay as the question arises continually and cannot be decided when both parties adduce evidence. The learned Attorney-General gave an assurance that the possession of the petitioners in this case would not be disturbed; all he wanted was a decision on the point. In the absence of any counter evidence the learned trial Judge accepted the fact proved by the petitioner's affidavit and decided the matter in their favour. 26. On appeal the learned Chief Ju ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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