- (1.) In these appeals question arose whether the provision of Chapter-IIB of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act, would be applicable in respect of the District of Purulia which was a transferred territory. The District of Purulia was a part of the State of Bihar and that the Parliament has enacted the Bihar and West Bengal Transfer of Territories Act, 19 of 1956. Section 44 of this Act provides that "For the purpose of facilitating the application of any law in relation to Bihar or West Bengal, the appropriate Government may, before the expiration of one year from the appointed day, by order make such adaptations and modifications of the law, whether by way of appeal or amendment as may be necessary or expedient, and thereupon every such law shall have effect, subject to the adaptations and modifications so made until altered, repealed or amended by a competent authority or competent legislature:- Explanation - In this section, the expression "appropriate Government" means, as respects any law relating to a matter enumerated. In the Union List, the Central Government, and as respects any other law, the State Government.
(2.) Thereafter, the West Bengal State Legislature passed an order known as West Bengal Transferred Territories (Assimilation of Laws) Act, 1958 referred to the Second Act. In Section 3(3) of the said Act, it is provided that the Acts specified in Schedule III of this Second Act including the West Bengal Estate Acquisition Act as well as the West Bengal Land Reforms Act 1955 shall exist to or come into force in the transferred territories or any part thereof with effect from such date or dates as the State Government may, by Notification issued in the Official Gazette from time to time appended in this behalf.
(3.) Admittedly, Clause 6 of Section 2, Sections 4(1), (2), (4) and (5), 14, 15, 49 and 58 of the West Bengal Land Reforms Act came into force on the 7th June, 1965, in all the districts of West Bengal except in the areas transferred from Bihar to West Bengal under Act 40 of 1956. Subsequently, all the provisions of Chapters IIA, IV, VI, VII and VIII and Section 15, sub-section (3) of Section 17, Sections 39 to 42, 53 to 56 and Clauses (1), (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6) of Section 59 came into force in all the areas transferred from Bihar to West Bengal under the Bihar and West Bengal (Transfer of Territories) Act, 1956 (40 of 1956) on the 1st October, 1969, by Notification No. 17885L Ref/16M-278/68 dated the 25th September, 1969, published in the Calcutta Gazette extraordinary of the 26th September, 1969, Part-I, page 3261.;