Venkataramiah, J. - (1.) In these petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution, the petitioners have questioned the constitutional validity of the Home Department Notification No. 352-LD-73/602 dated January 31, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Notification') as modified by the Home Department Notification No. 2294-LD-73/3474 dated September 24, 1973 and the Home Department Notification. No. 320-LD-74/3614, dated September 24, 1974 issued by the Chief Commissioner of the Union Territory of Chandigarh under Section 3 of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act') exempting every building constructed in the urban area of Chandigarh for a period of five years from the respective date applicable to it from the operation of the Act and issuing certain other directions in that behalf. Incidentally the petitioners have also questioned the validity of Section 3 of the Act.
(2.) For a proper appreciation of the rival contentions of the parties, it is necessary to refer briefly to the history of the relevant provisions of law. The area now known as the Union Territory of Chandigarh was a part of the State of Punjab as it existed prior to the coming into force of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 (Act 31 of 1966). With effect from November 1, 1966 i.e. the appointed day under Section 4 of the said Act the Union Territory of Chandigarh came into existence and thereupon the said area ceased to form part of the erstwhile State of Punjab. Section 87 of the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 conferred power on the Central Government to extend by notification with such restrictions or modifications as it thought fit any enactment which was in force in a State at the date of the notification to the Union Territory of Chandigarh. Whereas Section 88 of that Act provided for the territorial extent of laws, Section 89 dealt with the power to adapt laws, with the object of providing as far as possible for the continuity of laws in force in the several parts of the erstwhile State of Punjab in the successor States namely the States of Punjab and Haryana and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.
(3.) The Act i.e. the East Punjab Urban Restriction Act, 1949 was a law which had been enacted before the commencement of the Constitution and continued to be in operation even after the commencement of the Constitution in the erstwhile State of Punjab by virtue of the provisions of the Constitution. But the Act had not been brought into force in the area constituting the Union Territory of Chandigarh by the State Government of the erstwhile State of Punjab. By the Notification No. 13/l/66 CHD dated November 1, 1966 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Home Affairs, the President authorised the Administrator of the Union Territory of Chandigarh i. e. the Chief Commissioner thereof, in relation to the said territory to exercise and discharge with effect from November 1, 1966 the powers and functions of the State Government under any such law. On the basis of the above notification and other relevant provisions of law and notifications which had been issued from time to time to which a detailed reference is not necessary, the Chief Commissioner issued a notification bringing the Act into force in the Union Territory of Chandigarh with certain modifications with effect from November 4, 1972.The validity of the said notification was challenged before the High Court of Punjab and Haryana. The High Court quashed the said notification by its judgment dated October 9, 1974 holding that the Act had not been effectively brought into force in the Union Territory of Chandigarh by virtue of that notification (vide Dr. Harkishan Singh v. Union of India, AIR 1975 Punjab 160 (FB)). It is not necessary to deal with the reasons given by the High Court in support of its judgment since the legal infirmities pointed out by the High Court were set right by the Parliament by the enactment of the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1974 (Act 54 of 1974) (hereinafter referred to as 'the Extension Act') the relevant part of which reads as follows: "1. This Act may be called the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act (Extension to Chandigarh) Act, 1974. 2. In this Act, "The Act" means the East Punjab Urban Rent Restriction Act, 1949 as it extended to, and was in force, in certain areas in the pre-reorganisation State of Punjab (being areas which were administered by municipal committees, cantonment boards, town committees or notified area committees or area notified as urban areas for the purposes of that Act) immediately before the 1st day of November, 1966. 3. Notwithstanding anything contained it any judgment, decree or order of any Court, the Act shall subject to the modifications specified in the Schedule be in force and be deemed to have been in force with effect from the 4th day of November, 1972 in the Union Territory of Chandigarh as if the provisions of the Act as so modified had been included in and formed part of this section and as if this section had been in force at all material times. 4. (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any judgment, decree or order of any Court, anything done or any action taken (including any notification or direction issued or rent fixed or permission granted or order made) or purported to have been done or taken under the Act shall be deemed to be as valid and effective as if the provisions of this Act had been in force at all material times when such thing was done or such action was taken. (2) Nothing in this Act shall render any person guilty of any offence for any contravention of the provisions of the Act which occurred before the commencement of this Act. THE SCHEDULE (See Section 3) Modifications in the Act 1. Throughout the Act, for "State Government" substitute "Central Government". 2. Section 1. for sub-sections (2) and (3), substitute "(2) It extends to all the urban areas in the Union Territory of Chandigarh." 3. Section 2,- (i) after Clause (d), insert- (dd) "Notification" means a notification published in the Official Gazette". (ii) for Clause (j), substitute- "(j) "urban area" means the area comprised in Chandigarh as defined in Cl. (d) of Section 2 of the Capital of Punjab (Development and Regulation) Act, 1952 and includes such other area comprised in the Union Territory of Chandigarh as the Central Government may, having regard to the density of the population and the nature and extent of the accommodation available therein and other relevant factors, declare by notification to be urban for the purposes of this Act." 4. For Section 20, substitute- "20. (1) The Central Government may by notification make rules, for the purpose of carrying out all or any of the provisions of this Act. (2) Every rule made under this section shall be laid as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament while it is in session for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect, only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.";