Dutt, J. - (1.) In this writ petition the petitioner, Panipat Woollen and General Mills Co. Ltd., hereinafter referred to as 'the Company', has challenged the taking over of the management of its two textile mills under the Sick Textile, Undertakings (Taking Over of Management) Act, 1972 (for short 'Takeover Act') and also the constitutional validity of the Take-over Act and the Sick Textile Undertakings (Nationalisation) Act, 1974 (for short 'the Nationalisation Act').
(2.) It appears that the Company had fallen on evil days resulting in initiation of liquidation proceedings against the Company and the appointment of a provisional liquidator. The mills of the Company were closed sometime in May, 1972. On the application by the Industrial Finance Corporation of India, the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Board of Directors of the Company to hand over possession of the two mills to the Corporation to which the Company was indebted for a huge sum of money., The Corporation was also directed by the High Court to lease out the mills, and it appears that Padmashree Textile Industries Ltd. was granted the lease of the mills, that is to say, the textile undertakings of the Company.
(3.) At this stage, it may be mentioned that the lessee, the said Padmashree Textile Industries Ltd., also filed a writ petition before this Court, inter alia, challenging the Takeover Act and the Nationalisation Act. That writ petition has since been disposed of by this Court upon settlement between the parties.;