- (1.) In these writ petitions and civil appeals by special leave the petitioners and appellants, who are tenants of several buildings belonging to the Hindu, Christian, and Muslim religious public trusts as also to public charitable trusts in the State of Tamil Nadu, have challenged the legality and / or validity of the total exemption granted to all such buildings from all the provisions of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1900 (Tamil Act US of 1960) (for short 'the Act') in exercise of the powers conferred upon the State Govt. under S. 29 of the Act.
(2.) Section 29 of the Act runs thus : "29. Exemptions. - Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the Government may, subject to such condition as they deem fit, by notification exempt any building or class of buildings from all or any of the provisions of this Act." It appears that initially by G. O. Ms. No. 1998 (Home) dated 12th August, 1974, the State Government had, in exercise of its powers under S. 29 exempted all the buildings owned by the Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious trusts and charitable institutions from all the provisions of the Act; in other words the exemption was available to buildings of private religious trusts as also private charitable trusts. But later on by a fresh G. O. Ms. No. 2000 (Home) dated 16th August, 1976, the State Government in supersession of the earlier Notification dated 12th August 1974, confined the exemption to all buildings owned by the. Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious public trusts and public charitable trusts. The relevant Notification which is being impugned herein runs thus : "G. O. Ms. No. 2000, Home, 16th August, 1976 No. II(2)/HO/4520/76.- In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 29 of the Tamil Nadu Buildings (Lease and Rent Control) Act, 1900 (Tamil Nadu Act 18 of 1960), and in supersession of the Home Department Notification No. II(2)/HO/3811/74, dated the 12th August, 1974, published at page 444 of Part II Section 2 of the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette, dated the 12th August. 1974, the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby exempts all the buildings owned by the Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious public trusts and public charitable trusts from all the provisions of the said Act."
(3.) The tenants have challenged the aforesaid Notification granting total exemption to all buildings belonging to the Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious public trusts and public charitable trusts from all the provisions of the Act on three grounds (a) that S. 29 of the Act suffers from the vice of excessive delegation of legislative powers inasmuch as it vests in the State Government unguided and uncontrolled discretion in the matter of granting exemptions and is therefore, violative of Art. 14 of the Constitutio, (b) that the Notification dated 16th August, 1976 deprives the tenants of all such buildings (buildings belonging to Hindu, Christian and Muslim religious public trusts and public charitable trusts) of the equal protection of the beneficial provisions of the Act which is available to the tenants of other buildings and as such the same is discriminatory offending against the equal protection clause of Art 14 and (c) that in any event the total exemption from all the provisions of the Act granted to such buildings where partial exemption would have sufficed, is excessive, unwarranted and unsupportable.;