Mala fide State notification under the Punjab Pre-emption Act can be struck down where bad faith is proved on the available record.

A notification under Section 8(2) of the Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1913, excluding land from the Act, may be struck down if proved to have been issued mala fide. The Court noted that the challenge did not require the aggrieved party to identify a particular officer personally responsible where the relevant facts and decision-making process were within the State's special knowledge. On the facts, the notification came after the plaintiffs had obtained a pre-emption decree, material bearing on that decree was not properly placed before the decision-maker, and the asserted industrial purpose was accepted without adequate scrutiny. The notification was therefore invalid.

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Issues: Whether the notification issued under Section 8(2) of the Punjab Pre-emption Act, 1913, excluding the land from the operation of the Act, was vitiated by mala fides and therefore invalid.

Analysis: The notification was issued after the plaintiffs had already obtained a decree for pre-emption. The material before the State authorities showed that relevant facts bearing on the earlier decree and the adverse report of the Tahsildar were not properly placed before the final decision-maker, while the defendants' professed industrial purpose was accepted without adequate scrutiny. The challenge to the State action did not require the aggrieved party to name a particular officer as personally responsible, because the relevant material and the manner in which it was considered lay within the knowledge of the State.

Conclusion: The notification was validly found to have been issued mala fide and was liable to be struck down.

Ratio Decidendi: Where State action is challenged as mala fide, the burden does not require the challenger to identify the specific officer responsible if the relevant facts and decision-making process are within the special knowledge of the State, and a notification issued to defeat an already exercised right may be invalidated for bad faith on proved facts.

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