Chakravartti, J. - (1.) This is an appeal from a judgment and order' of Bose, J., dated the 16th of January, 1952. The appellants before us are the State of West Bengal and the Collector, Land Acquisition, 24-Parganas.
(2.) It appears that on the 9th of May, 1950, a notification, being Notification No. 4988 L. Develop, was issued under section 4 of the West Bengal Land Development and Planning Act, 1948. whereby it was declared that a certain area of land, measuring about ten bighas and situated in Jadavpur within the limits of the Tollygunge Municipality, was likely to be needed for a public purpose. The owners of the land tried the various means open to them under the special Act to have the order withdrawn, but failed to obtain any relief. Thereupon, on the 13th of February. 1951, they moved this Court, under Article 226 of the Constitution for a writ in the nature of mandamus and | or certiorari and | or any other appropriate writ for quashing the notification or directing the appellants before us to withdraw or cancel the same or to forbear from giving effect to it. The application which came to be heard by Bose, J., succeeded. Various points appear to have been canvassed before the learned Judge, but of them only three are material for the purpose of the present appeal. Really speaking, only one point is material, because Mr. Das Gupta, who appears for the appellants, abandoned the remaining two points.
(3.) The question which falls for decision is the following. Section 1(2) of the West Bengal Land Development' and Planning Act, 1948, which defines the extent of the Act said, as it originally stood, inter alia that the Act would not apply to any area to which the Calcutta Improvement Act, 1911, had been extended under sub-section (3) of section 1 thereof before the commencement of the Act. Actually, on the 20th of December, 1911, section 167 of the Calcutta Improvement Act had been extended to the area constituting the jurisdiction of the Tollygunge Municipality by Notification No. 1721M. If that extension of section 167 of the Calcutta Improvement Act amounted to an extension of the Act to the area concerned, as contemplated by section 1 (2) of the Act of 1948, the notification issued on the 9th of May, 1950 with respect to the ten bighas of land at Jadavpur would be clearly bad in law. The Act of 1948, by section 1(2), would exclude itself front such area. There was. however, an amendment of the Act which came into force on the 27th of October, 1951, when the Rule issued under Article 226 of the Constitution was pending. It was effected by the West Bengal Land Development and Planning (Amendment) Act, 1951 and was in the form of adding an explanation to section 1(2) of the main Act and also enacting a new provision as section 3 of the amending Act. The Amendment Act began with a preamble of two paragraphs which sought to explain the reason for making the amendments. It was declared that it had become necessary in public interest to clarify what was and had always been the true intendment of section 1(2) of the Act of 1948 and that it had also become necessary in public interest to remove any doubts that might arise regarding the effect of such amendment of the main Act. Having thus declared the reason for making the amendments, the amending Act proceeded to make them. The first amendment which was made by section 2 of the amending Act. was as follows:-- "To sub-section (2) of section I of the West Bengal Land Development and Planning Act, 1948 (hereinafter referred to as the said Act), the following Explanation shall be added and shall be deemed always to have been added, namely:-- Explanation--For the purpose of this Act, the Calcutta Improvement Act. 1911, shall not be deemed to have been extended under sub-section (3) of section 1 of that Act to any area if section 167 only of that Act has been extended to such area.;