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TMI Blog1994 (7) TMI 347X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... s. The erstwhile Saurashtra State consisted of 220 princely states rules by sovereign Rulers in their own rights.The lands in these appeals form present parts of Surendra Nagar and Bhavnagar districts. In the State of Saurashtra, the Rulers entered into agreements with Taluqadar and estate holders and also created a class of interested people known as "Barkhalidars or Girasdars, Various parcels of lands together with all rights in or interest over those lands were granted for cultivation on payment of revenue etc. with a right of succession in favour of their cadets or relations or favourites known as "Girasdars" or "Barkhalidars". "Gharkhed", known in South India estate tenures as "Homefarm lands", means land reserved by land holder for personal cultivatioa "Bid Land" means such lands as has been used by the land holders for grazing his cattle or for cutting grass for the cattle. "Land holder" means Zamindar, Jagirdar, Girasdar, Taluqadar etc. or any person who is a holder of land or who is interested in land and whom the Government has declared, on account of the extent and value of the land or his interests therein ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o issue notification from time to time in respect of an estate or part of an estate or in respect of any area specified in the said notification. The consequences of the abolition of Girasdars' and Barkhalidars' rights in the estate have been provided in Section 4 of the Act. Under clasue (2) of s.4 relevant for the purpose of this case, it has been provided that consequent upon the notification issued by the govern-ment under Section 3, with effect from the specified date, all cultivable and non-cultivable waste land, excluding land used for building or other non-agricultural purposes........which are comprised in the estates so notified shall, except in so far as any rights of any person other than the Girasdar or the Barkhalidar may be established in and over the same......and shall be deemed to be, with all rights in or over the same or appertaining thereto, the property of the State and all rights held by a Girasdar or a Barkhalidar in such property shall be deemed to have been extinguished, (emphasis supplied) and it shall be lawful for the Collector, subject to the general or special orders of the Revenue Commissioner, to dispose of them as he deems fit, subject alwa ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ure in land but shall not include an occupancy, Section 5 of the Act abolishes Barkhali tenure existing as on the date and Barkhali estate shall cease and be vested in the State free from all encumbrances, subject to the provisions of this Act. The Act gives right to the Barkhalidar to make an application for personal cultivation and the details etc. are not necessary for the purposes of these appeals. As seen, consequent upon the abolition of the estate under section 3(1) of the Act by issuance of the notification and ensuring consequences under Section 4, the Girasdar or Barkharidari tenures stood extinguished and vested in the State. When questioned in Civil Application No. 689/65 in T.K. Gohil and Ors. v. C.K. Dave by a decision dated 14.8.69 J.B. Mehta, J. held that the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of the Act would be applicable only to uncultivable waste lands which alone stood vested in the State and the lands with mines and minerals could not be held to be uncultivable waste lands and did not vest in the State. The said decision was confirmed by the Division Bench in L.P.A, No. 73/70 dated March 15, 1971. Section 69 of the Code, which was admittedly adapted to the Sauras ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d disposal of such rights." Sub-section 4 says that: 11 Any occupant, whose rights fr. mines, minerals or quarries in any land, existing misnc Jiate'y before 1st May, 1960 have vested in the State of Goverment on that date under Sub-Section (1), shall be enrite in comparition of ammount of the equivalent to the average to the net anual income recived by the occupint in respect of the manged and inieral products the three yenrs immediately prociecing the date of vesting. 'It is settled law that the concept 'estate' denotes that the person holding the estate should be in direct relationship with the State paying land revenue except what is remitted in whole or in part or exempted etc. There may be variation in the local equation. The other sub-sections are not relevant for disposal of these appeals. Hence omitted. The first contention of the appellants is that, under Entry 54, of List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution, since Regulation of Mines and Minerals Development Act, 1957 occupies the field of mines and minerals covered in Section 69A of the Amendment Act, it is void and is ultra vires of the Constitution. We find no force in this contentio ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... verlap and sometimes may also appear to be in direct conflict with each other. Then, it is the duty of the court to find out its true intent and purpose and to examine a particular legislation in its pith and substance to determine whether it fits in one or the other of the Lists, The Lists are designed to define and delimit the respective areas of respective competence of the Union and the States. They neither impose any implied restriction on the legislative power con-ferred by Article 246 of the Constitution, nor prescribe any duty to exercise that legislative power in any particular manner. Hence, the language of the Entries should be given widest scope to find out which of the meaning is fairly capable in the set up of the machinery of the government. Each general word should be held to extend to all ancillary or subsidiary matters which can fairly and reasonably be comprehended in it. In interpreting an Entry, it would not be reasonable to impart any limitation by comparing or contrasting that Entry with any other one's in the same list. It is in this background that one has to examine the present con-troversy. It is seen that under Entry 18 of List II (State List) " ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... descriptive of the subject of ownership and not the ownership. Land is the material of the earth, whatever may be the ingredients of which it is composed, weather, soil, rock, or other substance, and includes free or occupied space for an indefinite distance upwards as well as downwards, subject to limitations upon the use of airspace imposed, and rights in the use of airspace granted by law. The Law Lexicon (Reprint edn. 1987) by Ramanatha Iyer p. 701, the word 'land" in the ordinary legal sense comprehends everything of a fixed or permanent nature and, therefore, growing trees, land includes the benefit arise out of the land and things attached to the earth or permanently means everything attached to the earth and also the share in or charges on, the revenue or rent of villages or other defined portions of territory. Land includes the bed of the sea below high water mark.....Land shall extend to messuages, and all other hereditaments, whether corporal or incorporeal and whether freehold or of any other tenure and to money to be paid out in the purchase of land. Land in its widest signification would therefore include not only the surface of the ground, cultivable, uncu ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... or quarry in the lands held by any person including Girasdars or Barkhalidars and reserved them for the government under Section 69 of the Code. Omitting the word 'alienated' from Section 69, it seeks to bring the mines, minerals or quarries situated in any land by Girasdar or Barkhalidar etc. within the ambit of reservation under Section 69 read with Section 69A(1) of the Act, Thereby it is clear that, in pith and substance, the predominent purpose of the Amendment Act is to extinguish the pre-existing rights, title and interests in the land which includes the mines, minerals and quarries held by Girasdars or B .rkhajidars extingushed their rights and reserved and vested them in the State of Gujarat for public use. It would thereby tall within Entry 18 and 23 of List II (State List) read with Entry 42 of List III (Concurrent List). In India Cement case, the question was whether levy of cess under Section 115 of Madras Panchayat Act on royalty is additional land revenue or additional royalty and whether the levy is constitutionally valid. In considering that question, a bench of seven judges, per majority, held that Section 9(3) of the Mines and Mineral (Development and Re ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... nds held by Girasdar or Barkhalidar. It is true that the Code has been adapted to the entire State of Gujarat including Saurashtra region. Section 69 of the Code reserved the rights of the government in mines, minerals and quarries from un-alienated lands. The pre-existing proviso saved subsisting mines and minerals rights of any occupant of such land and therely saved the right to mines etc. in alienated lands held under the grant etc. By operation of the Amendment Act, by detection of the word 'unalienated' and the proviso with retrospective effect from May 1, 1960 applying non-obstante clause. Section 69A(1) of the Code, rendered any grant ot an agreement or a judgment, decree or order of a Court inoperative from May 1, 1960 and all mines whether being worked or not, all minerals whether discovered or not and all quarries situated in any land, subject to the saving, shall vest in the State. Their regulation and development is subject to Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act of 1957. The aforementioned respective enactments undoubtedly dealt with the abolition and extinguishment of pre-existing right, title and interest in the lands had under a grant etc. b ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... en cannot be deemed to have been made with retrospective effect. Equally is the settled law that the provisions which touched the right in existence at the passing of the statute are not to be applied retrospectively in the absence of an express enactment or by necessary intendment. It is equally settled law that every statute which takes away or impairs vested rights acquired under existing taws or creates a new obligation or imposes a new duty or burden or touches a new right in respect of transaction already passed must normally be presumed, unless expressed otherwise, to be intended not to have retrospective effect. In the light of the language in s.2 of the Amendment Act, the express retrospective operation given to the Amendment Act, with effect from May 1, 1960 retrospectively effected vested rights of the Girasdar or Barkhalidars created by a grant or agree-ment etc. or flown from a judgment, order or a decree of any court and stood extinguished with effect from May 1, 1960. It is true that a limited retrospective effect was given to the Amendment Act as the State was formed and became operative from May 1, 1960, the date on which the State was formed. So, any grant or agre ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... rned counsel for the State refuted the contentious contentions in chorus of M/s. Zaveri, Ganguli, T.U. Mehta and D.U. Shah, the learned counsel represented the appellants. The Amendment Act received its protective canopy of Ninth Schedule in Entry 219 thereof through the Constitution's 66th Amendment Act, 1990, with effect from June 7, 1990. While dealing with the first contention, we have held that the Amendment Act is part of the scheme of agrarian reform envisaged under the Act falling within Entry 18 and 23 of List II (State List) and Entry 42 of Concurrent List of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. So it is saved by Article 31A of the Constitu tion. This Court in State of West Bengal v. Mrs. Bela Banerjee & Ors. [1954] SCR 558, State of West Bengal v. Subodh Gopal Bose & Ors., [1954] SCR 587, interpreted the word 'compensation' in clause (2) of Article 31 as just equivalent or indemnification for the property expropriated which led to the Constitution 4th Amendment Act, 1955 suitably amending Article 31(2) that no law providing for compulsory acquisition or requisition "shall be called in question in any court on the ground of compensation provided by ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... mmon detriment. The question of adequacy had been excluded by Constitution 4th Amendment Act obviating the necessity to provide a standard or rule to measure adequacy with reference to fixing the amount. The ground of adequacy of the amount as to how the amount has to be given otherwise in cash is not amenable to judicial review. The quantum cannot be a matter for judicial review but the principles to determine the compensation must be relevant to the consideration and must not be illusory. The fundamental rights are subject to reasonable restrictions and rational discrimination and that, therefore, are amendable under Article 368 and they are not basic features or basic structure of the Constitution. The agrarian reforms covered under Art. 3LA brought by Constitution First Amendment Act and saved by Art. 31B as well as Art. 31C brought by Constitution 25th Amendment Act were upheld. Khanna, J. who constituted the majority held that right to property did not pertain to the basic structure of Constitution and it was subordinate to the common good as explained in Indira Gandhi's case. According to Hidayatullah, J. in his concurrent judgment in Golak Nath v. State of Punjab, [1967 ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . Union of India, {second Minerva Milt's case) [1986] 4 SCC 222, a Bench of two judges held that the Sick Industries Nationalisation Act did not violate the basic structure nor did it violate Art. 14 of the Constitution. In Tinsukhia Electric Supply Co. Ltd. v. State of Assam, [1989] 3 SCC 709, another constitution bench upheld the acquisition of Electrical Undertakings holding that it did not offend Art. 14 of the Constitution. In Assam Sillianite Ltd. v. Union of India, [1992] Suppl. 1 SCC 692 and in Union of India v. Han Krishan Khosla (dead) by Lrs., [1993] Suppl. 2 SCC 149, benches of two and three judges respectively held that s.8(3)(a) of the Requisitioning and Acquisition of Immovable Property Act, 1952 was not violative of Art. 14 nor damage nor destroy the basic structure of the Constitution. In Smt. Indira Gandhi v. Shri Raj Narain, [1976] 2 SCR 347, Mathew J. held that to be a basic structure it must be a terrestrial concept having its habitate within the four corners of the Constitution and Art. 14 is not a basic structure. After the deletion of the right to property omitting of Arts. 19(1)(f) and 31 of the Constitution by the Constitution 44th Amend- ment Act, th ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... cracy. Establishment of economic and social democracy and agrarian reform as its ingrained facet was the nation's chartered mission for economic restructure of the social order. Land Reform laws were made on its anvil to distribute surplus lands to the landless poor etc. Whether right to property is the basic structure was pointedly projected for the first time assailing the imposition of ceiling on agricultural holdings in Maharashtra Agricutural Lands (Ceiling on Holdings) Act, 1961 as amended up to 1976 in Woman Rao's case. Chandrachud. CJ. speaking for the unanimous Constitution Bench, that decided first Minerva Mills case prior to Constitution 44th Amendment Act, 1978, considered the constitutionality of the First Constitution Amendment Act, 1951 Intro- ducting Article 31-A and Article 31-B traced the history of land tenures, the debates in the Constituent Assembly, need for the agrarian reforms and stated that in our predominantly agricultural society, there is a strong linkage between ownership of land and the person's status in the social system. Those without land suffer not only from an economic disadvantage, but also a concomitant social disadvantage. In the ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ibution, the ownership and control of material resour-ces of the Community. Resources is a sweeping expression and covers not only cash sources but even ability to borrow credit resources........In State of Tamil Nadu v. L. Abu Kavi Bai, [1984] 1 SCC 515, another Constitution Bench interpreting Article 39(b) and (c) (material resources) held that the concept is wide enough to cover not only natural or physical resources but also movable or immovable properties such as the vehicles, tools, imple- ments and the workshops, etc. The mere fact that the resources are material will make no differences in the concept of the word 'resources'. The word 'distribution' used hi Article 39(b) must be broadly construed so that a court may give full and comprehensive effect to the statutory intent contained in Article 39(b). It should not be construed in a purely literal sense so as to mean only division of a particular kind or to particular persons. The word 'distribution' will include various facets, aspects, methods and terminology of a broad-based concept of distribution. It does not merely mean that property of one should be taken over and distributed to others like la ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... . It is, therefore, clear and we so hold that the material resources of community is a wide concept and must be broadly interpreted to bring within its sweep all resources, natural or physical moveable or immovable, corporeal or incorporeal, tangible or intangible properties etc. Private resources or property are part of material resources of the community. All things that produce wealth for the community are material resources. The word "distribution" equally must be construed broadly to include not only allotment of resources to public use but also dispensation of largess to the poor to provide access to equal opportunity. In other words it is a broad based concept and it should not be confined within narrow confines. Mines, minerals and quarries embedded in the land are material resources of the community amenable to public use or for distribution. Thus it is clear that right to property under Art, 300A is not a basic feature or structure of the Constitution. It is only a constitutional right. The Amendment Act having had the protective umbrella of Ninth Schedule habitat under Art. 31B, its invalidity is immuned from attack by operation of Art. 31A. Even otherwise it ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on of the property for public purpose. Deprivation specifically referable to acquisition or requisition and not for any and every kind of deprivation. In Dwarka Das Srinivas of Bombay v. Sholapur Spinning and Weaving Co. Ltd., [1954] SCR 674, Mahajan, J., as he then was, similarly held that the word 'deprived' in clause (1) of Art. 31 and acquisition and taking possession in clause (2) have the same meaning delimting the field of eminent domain, namely, compulsory acquisition of the property and given protection to private owners against the State action. S.R. Das, J. reiterated his view laid in Subodh Gupal's case. Vivian Bose, J. held that the word 'taken possession of or 'acquired' in Art. 31(2) have to be read along with the word 'deprived' in clause (1). Taking possession or acquisition amounts to deprivation within the meaning of clause (1). No hard and fast rule can be laid down. Each case must depend on its own facts. The word "law" used in Art. 300A must be an Act of Parliament or of State Legislature, a rule or statutory order having force of law. The deprivation of the property shall be only by authority of law, be it an Act of P ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... on gives the power to take for public purpose and prohibits the exercise of the power of eminent domain without just compensation to the owners of the property which is taken. The process of exercising the power of eminent domain is commonly referred to as 'condemnation' or 'expropriation'. The right of eminent domain is the right of the sovereign State, through its regular agencies, to reasert, either temporarily or permanently, its dominion over any portion of the soil of the State including private property without its owner's consent on account of public exigency and for the public good. Eminent domain is the highest and most exact idea of property remaining in the government, or in the aggregate body of the people in their sovereign capacity. It gives the right to resume possession of the property in the manner directed by the Constitution and the laws of the State, whenever the public interest requires it. The term 'expropriation' is practically synonymous with the term "eminent domain". This Court in Chiranjit Lal Chowdhuri v. Union of India, [1950J SCR 869, held that eminent domain is a right inherent in every sovereign to take and ap ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inheres in Art. 300A and it would be exercised by the authority of law and not by executive fiat or order. The question then is what is the meaning of the word 'property' used in Art. 300A and whether it is amenable to eminent domain. At the cost of repetition, we reiterate that the Constitution assures to secure to all its citizens economic and social justice and of equality of status and of opportunity and the dignity of the individual. Article 51A(h) & (j) enjoins on him, a fundamental duty, to develop scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform. Every citizen shall strive towards excel- lence in all spheres of individual and collective activity so that the nation constantly rises to higher levels of endeavour and achievement. In Woman Rao's case this court held that "there is a strong linkage between ownership of land and person's status in social system". Private ownership entails political and legal power. Control over property amounts to control over people and their lives. Dominion over things is an imperium over fellow human beings. Property, therefore, accords status. Due to its lack man suffers from economic disadvantages ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... When we consider right to life to be meanigfu! deprivation of proper-ty needs to be considered from broad constitutional spectrum. Property in a comprehensive term is an essential guarantee to lead full life with human dignity, for, in order that a man may be able to develop himself in a human fashion with full blossom, he needs a certain freedom and a certain security. The economic and social justice, equality of status and dignity of person are assured to him only through property. Roscoe Pound has argued that a system of individual property on the whole conduces to maintaining and furthering of civilisation. Sir Henry Maine wrote that nobody is at liberty to attach (amass) several property and to say at the same time he values civilization. The history of the two cannot be disen-tangled. (See Village Community, p.230). Granting facilities and oppor-tunites to hold the property furthers the basic structures of egalitarian social order guaranteeing equality and it would remove disabilities and inequalities and accords status and dignity of person. The term 'property' in Art. 300A receives its true colour and reflectrion from the context in which State's power of eminen ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... so the contract included protection of property with recog-nition of the power of the ruler to act in the public interest and emergency. Our constitutional theory treated property rights as invoilable except through law for public good and on payment of compensation. Our Con-stitution saw the matter in the way of Grotius but over-looked the pos-sibility that just compensation may not be possible. Karl Renner in his "The Institution of Private law their Functions", 1949- Edition by Kahn-Feund, pages 105-08 and 114-22, stated the "Proper-ty in modern conditions has become a means of control over other people's labour and life." Private property ownership requires reconciliation with public interest balancing public needs against private needs. M.R. Cohen in his essay on "Property am' Sovereignty" [13 Cornell Law Quarterly 8| stated that right is a relation, not between an owner and a thing, but between th-; owner and other individuals in reference to things. Therefore, property as a right over things resolves it into component right such as the jus utendi,for disponendi, etc. Justice Matnew opined in his right to property that in law, control of ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... h. In the words of Prof. Van Ihering, it would result in "the destruction of the society". In the words of Prof. Towney the property becomes functionless. Justice Mathew at p.12 stated that all property might be described as government largesse given on conditions and subject to law. At P.14 he stated that "property is an essential guaran-tee of human dignity for, in order that a man may be able to develop himself in a human fashion, he needs a certain freedom and a certain security, the one and the other are assured to him only through property. In his concluding observations at p.19 Justice Mathew had stated that the "property is the greatest source of friction in a community, extreme ine-quality in the distribution of property has been and will be a cause of revolution in states. I am not sure the problem will be solved by transferring the ownership of property in the means production to the state. This will add economic power to political power and will render the individual more helpless than in the capitalistic system where power and responsibility are diffused. This does not mean that the final directing power over economic system should not be in the han ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... o that end to make right to life meaningful, equality of opportunity and of status and dignity of person a reality. The fundamental rights and the directive principles are the two wheels of the chariot as an aid to make social and economic democracy a truism. The word "property used in Article 300A must be understood in the context in which the sovereign power of eminent domain is exercised by the State and Property expropriated. No abstract principles could be laid. Each case must be considered in the light of its own facts and setting. The Phrase 'deprivation of the property of a person' must equally be considered in the fact situation of a case. Deprivation connotes different concepts. Article 300A gets attracted to an acquisition or taking possession of private property, by necessary implication for public purpose, in accordance with the law made by the Parliament or a State legislature, a rule or a statutory order having force of law. It is inherent in every sovereign State by exercising it's power of eminent domain to expropriate private property without owner's consent. Prima facie, State would be the judge to decide whether a purpose is a public purpose ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... itution, the question arises whether payment of compensation is a sine quo non for deprivation of property under Article 300A?. In any democracy governed by rule of law, Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Roscoe Pound, a sociological jurist whose writings have virtually opened new vistas in the sphere of justice, Stated that 'the justice meant not as an individual or idea relations among men but a regime in which the adjustment of human relations and ordering of the human conduct for peaceful existence'. According to him, 'the means of satisfying human claims to have things and to do things should go around, as far as possible, with least friction and waste. In his "A Survey of Social Interests", 57th, Harvard Law Review, 1 at 39(1943), he elaborated thus : 'Looked at functionally the law is an attempt to satisfy, to reconcile, to harmonize, to adjust these overlapping and often conflicting claims and demands, either through securing them directly and immediately, or through securing certain individual interests or through delimitations or compromises of individual interests, so as to give effect to the greatest total of interests or to the inter ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ion of the founding fathers and the judicial interpretation on the word "compensation" when private property was expropriated to subserve common good or to prevent com-mon detriment. The constitution history of the interpretation of the power of the Parliament to amend the constitution under Art. 368 form Kameshwar Singi v. Kesvananda Bharti to give effect to the directive principles in Part IV vis-a-vis the right to property in Arts. 19(l)(f) and 31 as well as the interpretation, "compensation" from Ms. Bela Banerji to Banks Nationalisation's case do establish that the Parliament has ultimately wrested the power to amend the Constitution, without violating its basic features or structure. Concomitantly legislature has power to acquire the property of private person exercising the power of eminent domain by a law for public purpose. The law may fix an amount or which may be determined in accordance with such principles as may be laid therein and given in such manner as may be specified in such law. However, such law shall not be questioned on the grounds that the amount so fixed or amount determined is not adequate. The amount fixed must be not be illusory. ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... (4) of the Code are ultra vires. In Bhim Singhji v. Union of India, [1981] 1 SCC 166, per majority, the Constitution Bench considered Section 11(6) of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 (33 of 1976) and fixation of amount of ₹ 2.00 lacs as maximum limited under sub-s. (6) of the property worth ₹ 2.00 Crores, it was held to be not illusory and the provisions is not confiscatory, and that therefore, it does not violate Art. 14 and Art. 31(2) of the Constitution (proceeding Constitution 44th Amendment).In Achutananda Purohit v. State of Orissa, [1976] 3 SCR 919, it was held that fixation of compensation on slab system does not violate Article 14 and 31(2) of the Constitution. In Basant Bat's case this court held that the provision in s.44(3) of the Maharashtra Housing and Develop-ment Act that in the absence of agreement, the amount shall be equal to 100 times the net average monthly income actually derived from such land during the period of five consecutive years immediately preceding the date of the publication of the notification referred to in s. 41, as may be determined by the Land Acquisition Officer, was held to be not violative of Art. 14. Artic ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... at the appellants are not entitled to compen- sation or just equivalent of property they are deprived of or indemnification of the property expropriated i.e., mines, whether worked or not, minerals whether discovered or not or quarries deprived by law made under Article 300A of the Constitution. The principles under Section 69A(4) of the Code are relevant. The resultant amount is not illusory. Thereby they are not void. We further hold that after the Constitution forty fourth Amendment Act has come into force, the right to property in Arts. 19 (l)(f) and 31 had its obliteration from Chapter III. Fundamental Rights. Its abridgement and curtailment docs not retrieve its lost position, nor gets restituted with renewed vigour claiming compensation under the grab 'deprivation of property' in Art. 300A, The Amendment Act neither receives wrath of Art. 13(2), nor does s.69A become ultra vires of Art. 300A. The further contention that money value of the rupee from three years preceding May 1, 1960 till date, has considerable been eroded and that, therefore, the fixation on the principle of net annual income of three years preceding the date of vesting, namely 1st May, 1960 is arbi ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... ned by the statute to be discriminatory. It is seen that the principle bears just relation to the object of determining the amount or compensation payable to the owner and the principle of average of three years net annual income is a reasonable classification having relation to the object of modification of the existing rights and extinguishment thereof. Section 69A(4) of the Code is, therefore, valid. So it is unassailable under Art. 14. The principle of unfairness of the procedure attracting Art. 21 does not apply to the acquisition or deprivation of property under Article 300A giving effect to the directive principles, are not concerned in these appeals of the effect of mining and mineral lease or leases granted by the appel-lants to third parties, since that question was neither canvassed in the High Court, nor any factual foundation laid before us. We declined to go into that question. For well over twelve years the appellants worked the mines etc. by obtaining stay of operation of law and had appropriated the mines or minerals or quarries from the respective lands. The appeals are accordingly dismissed with quantified costs at ₹ 1,00,000 in each set. Compensation or a ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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