ABDUL GHANI HUSSAIN KHAN Vs. STATE OF MADHYA BHARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is an application under Article 226, Constitution of India praying for the issue of a writ of Mandamus or any other writ or order of a suitable nature commanding the State not to interfere with the applicant's rights to move freely and to reside and settle in Indore or any part of the territory of India recognising him to be an Indian national.

(2.) THERE is no doubt that the applicant was born and brought up in Indore City where he had his ancestral home and had immovable property. He obtained a no -objection certificate for going to Pakistan from the Collector, Indore on 10 -3 -1949. According to him, he was anxious to purchase cement in Pakistan and import it into India. He, therefore, obtained a temporary permit from Pakistan's Permit Officer, Bombay, on 18 -4 -1949. This permit was valid up to 14 -7 -1949.

(3.) ON behalf of the Government, the application is opposed on several grounds. The first ground is that no writ can be issued in favour of the Petitioner on the ground that the office of the High Commissioner for India in Pakistan is not within the jurisdiction of this Court. The second point is that the impugned order was made by the High Commissioner for India before the Constitution came into force and Article 226 of the Constitution cannot be invoked with a retrospective effect.