AI Drafter 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
TaxTMI 
1953 (12) TMI 22
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....the Province of West Bengal due to communal disturbances 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- ....
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....market value referred to in clause first of sub- section (1) of section 23 of the said Act shall be deemed to be the market 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....
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....as argued that the impugned Act having been passed within 18 months before the commencement of the Constitution and not having been submitted to the President for his certification, it was 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 ....
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....ch compensation for property acquired or requisitioned for the purposes of the Union or of a State or for any other public purpose is to be determined, and the form and the manner in which 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 conclud....
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....s " instead of " compensation " in section 51 (xxxi) of the Commonwealth Constitution which conferred power on the Parliament to make laws with respect to " the acquisition of property on 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 ....