- (1.) These four appeals which have been filed pursuant to special leave granted by this Court principally raise for consideration the constitutional validity of S.15 of the Punjab Pre-emption Act (Act 1 of 1913) hereinafter referred to as the Act. The property involved in these appeals are agricultural lands and in each one of them decrees have been passed in favour of the pre-emptors whose claim to pre-empt was based on different sub-clauses of S.15 and the vendees who are the appellants in the several appeals challenge the constitutional validity of the law under which the suits have been decreed.
(2.) One of the appeals- Civil Appeal No.214 of 1961 however could be decided without considering the constitutional point regarding the validity of S.15 of the Act and it would therefore be convenient to dispose it of first. The facts giving rise to the appeal are briefly as follows: The 5th and 6th respondents before us owned certain agricultural land in village Dugri which they sold to the appellants by a deed dated April 25, 1957. Respondents 1 to 4 instituted a suit against the appellants to which the vendor-respondents 5 and 6 were also impleaded as co- defendants. The right of pre-emption was based on the plaintiffs being the nearest collaterals of the vendors and heirs according to the rule of succession. There were certain points of dispute on the facts but these are not now material and it is sufficient to state that the suit was decreed by the Subordinate Judge on December 10, 1958. This judgment in favour of respondents 1 to 4 was affirmed by the District Judge on appeal and on further appeal by the High Court. It is from this judgment and decree of the High Court that the vendees who are the appellants before us have brought the matter to this Court.
(3.) The appellants were five in number. They fell into two groups constituted respectively by the 1st and 2nd appellants who are brothers and by appellants 3, 4 and 5. While the appeal was pending in this Court the 1st appellant- Mehar Singh died on May 18, 1960 leaving a widow and five children- four daughters and a son, as his heirs. No application was however, made to bring on record the legal representatives of the deceased 1st appellant - Mehar Singh and learned Counsel appearing for the other four appellants informed the office that the legal representatives were not being brought on record and that he would proceed with the appeal on behalf of the four surviving appellants.;