- (1.) The Madras Legislature enacted Act XXX of 1947, entitled "The Madras Estates Land (Reduction of Rent) Act, 1947" which was designed, as recited in its preamble, "to provide for the reduction of rents payable by ryots in estates governed by the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, approximately to the level of the assessments levied on lands in ryotwari areas in the neighbourhood and for the collection of such rents exclusively by the State Government". Section 2 of the enactment empowered the State Government to appoint a Special Officer for the purpose of recommending fair and equitable rates of rent for the ryoti lands in such estate or estates. The further provisions of that Section prescribed the method to be adopted by the Special Officer for arriving at a fair and equitable rate of rent to be payable by the ryots in the estates. After the determination of the fair and equitable rent by the Special Officer, S. 3(1) provided for the Special Officer submitting his recommendation to the State Government through the Board of Revenue specifying (i) the extent, if any to which the rents for each class of such lands in each village or group of villages in the estate should in his opinion, be reduced, and (ii) the rate of rent payable for each such class after such reduction. Provision is thereafter made for the consideration by the State Government of the recommendations of the Special Officer and, the remarks of the Board of Revenue and thereafter the State Government is empowered in subsection (2), by order published in the Fort St. George Gazette, to fix the rates of rent payable in respect of each class of ryoti land in each village in the estate. Sub-section (3) of S. 3 enacted that an order made under sub-section (2) would take effect from the commencement of the fasli year 1357, Section 8 of the Act might also be referred to in this context. That Section reads as follows : "8. The validity of the following orders and proceedings shall not be liable to be questioned in any Court of Law :- (i) any order made under Section 3, subsection (2); ................." This enactment received the assent of the Governor on January 6, 1948 and was published in the Fort St. George Gazette on January 7, 1948. We have summarised, in very general terms, these provisions of the law which are sufficient for the purpose of considering the point that arises for consideration in this appeal.
(2.) The respondent is the proprietor of the Inam estate of Jinjeru-a whole-inam-village situated in Bandar Taluk of Krishna district in regard to which the rents were notified to be reduced by a publication in the Gazette on March 14, 1949 and that notification was implemented; the rents were determined as stated therein and have been collected at those rates ever since.
(3.) While things were continuing in this State the Special Officer of the Board of Revenue, Andhra issued a notice on February 29, 1956 to, inter alia, the respondent reading as under : "As per the provisions contained in S. 3(1) of the Madras Estates Land (Rent Redution) Act, 1947 it is proposed to reduce the rents with respect to the lands under occupation of the ryots the particulars of which are given below. Anybody having objection to these proposals may send in their objections reduced in writing before March 20, 1956 or within 7 days after the receipt of this notice, otherwise any objection will not be entertained later." Then followed details of the then existing rates of rent and the extent to which the rents were proposed to be reduced. Immediately thereafter the respondent moved the High Court of Andhra Pradesh under Art. 226 of the Constitution for the issue of a writ of prohibition restraining the State authorities from proceeding with the enquiry in pursuance of the notice dated February 29, 1956. The point that was raised in support of this prayer was that the Rent Reduction Act did not contemplate a second fixation of fair rent, and that when once the fair rent in respect of an "estate" had been fixed after following the procedure prescribed by S. 2 of the Act there was no further power to modify or reduce the rates of rent so fixed. The answer of the appellant in the counter-affidavit filed before the Court was that there were some errors in the original fixation of rent and that the authorities were merely trying to rectify those errors which it contended was not prohibited by any provision of the Rent Reduction Act. There was also a plea raised that on the strength of Ss. 13 and 15 of the Madras General Clauses Act which read : "13. Where an Act confers a power or imposes a duty then the power maybe exercised and the duty shall be performed from time to time as occasion requires." and "15. Where an Act confers a power to make any rules or bye-laws, or to issue notification or orders, the power shall be construed as including a power exercisable in the like manner and subject to the like consent and conditions, if any, to rescind, revoke, amend or vary the rules, bye-laws notification or orders." that the power to fix the fair and equitable rent was not exhausted by following the procedure under S. 2 of the Act when the rents had been fixed for the Jinjeru estate by the notification dated March 14, 1949.;