Appeal No 101 of 1959
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated November 8 1957 of the Deputy Custodian General Evacuee Property Now Delhi Revision Petition No 17 R55 of 1955
Achhru Ram and K L Mehta for the appellants
BK Khanna and T M Sen for the respondent No 1
NS Bindra and A G Ratnaparkhi for the respondents Nos
March 15
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by MUDHOLKAR J
The appellants who are admittedly displaced persons from West Pakistan were granted quasi permanent allotment of 24 standard acres and 15 34 units in the village of Raikot in Ludhiana District in 1949
Their father Sardar Nand Singh who was 42 330 found entitled to quasi permanent allotment of 40 standard acres and 5 14 units of land was given quasipermanent allotment in another village named Humbran in the same district
The two villages are however 25 miles or so distant from each other
Nand Singh therefore made an application for consolidation of his lands with those of the appellants in the village Raikot
During the pendency of this application he died and after his death the application was continued by the appellants
This application was rejected by the Assistant Custodian on July 23 1951 on the ground that no land was available in the village Raikot
A revision petition preferred by the appellants against the order of the Assistant Custodian was dismissed by the Additional Custodian on August 20 1952
On October 7 1952 the appellants preferred a revision application before the Custodian General
During the pendency of the revision application the Additional Custodian for the State of Punjab cancelled the allotment of fourteen quasi permanent allottees of the village Karodian in the same district on the ground that these persons were entitled to allotment of suburban land a had been wrongly fitted in the village Karodian
Acting suo motu the Additional Custodian made an order on October 31 1952 cancelling the order of allotment of land in the village Raikot made in favour of the appellants in the year 1949 and instead allotted to them land in Karodian in substitution of the lands at Raikot and of the lands allotted to their father
The land allotted was out of the land released upon the cancellation of allotment of lands in favour of the aforementioned 14 allottees
These fourteen allottees preferred an application for review of the order cancelling their allotment on the ground that this cancellation was a result of misapprehension of the actual facts and that they were not entitled to allotment of suburban lands at all
The appellants also preferred an application for review of the order cancelling their quasi permanent allotment in the village Raikot
The Additional Custodian for the State of Punjab recommended to the Custodian General the restoration 331 of the land to the 14 allottees which had been taken away from them by reason of cancellation of the allotment in their favour by the order dated October 31 1952
The Additional Custodian admitted that these persons were not entitled to allotment of suburban land and that consequently their allotment had been wrongly made but referred the matter back to the Additional Custodian for decision
The application made by the appellants was kept pending till the decision of the application of the 14 allottees of Karodian
The Additional Custodian however dismissed the application on the ground that r 146 of the Evacuee Property Rules which came into force on July 22 1952 stood in the way of cancellation of the allotment in favour of the appellant
On December 17 1954 the Deputy Custodian General before whom these allottees had preferred an application for revision revised the order of the Additional Custodian and restored to the 14 allottees of Karodian the land which had been originally allotted to them
and allotment of which had been cancelled earlier
As a result of this order the allotment of Karodian land made in favour of the appellants automatically stood cancelled
On January 6 1955 the appellants moved the Deputy Custodian General for calling up their review application and for revising the order of October 31 1952 passed by the Additional Custodian cancelling the allotment of Raikot lands which had originally been made in their favour in the year 1949
Consequent upon the cancellation of the appellants  allotment of the Raikot land they were allotted to respondents 2 to 4
These persons were therefore impleaded as parties to the proceedings before the Deputy Custodian General
By the order dated November 8 1957 the Deputy Custodian General dismissed the appellants  application
The appellants have therefore come up to this Court by way of appeal with special leave
The ground on which the appellants  application was rejected by the Deputy Custodian General was that his jurisdiction to revise the order has been 332 taken away by virtue of the provisions of  44 of 1954 and the notification issued thereunder on March 24 1955
In taking this view he has relied upon the decision in Bal Mukund vs The State of Punjab 1
In that case the Court has held that the powers of the Custodian General to deal with matters of this kind have been taken away by the  and that these powers now vest in another authority and that there is no provision for continuing the pro ceedings which had been commenced under the  but had not been concluded
Mr Achhruram for the appellants challenged the correctness of this decision
There is no specific provision in this Act to the effect that after its commencement the jurisdiction of the various authorities created by the  to deal with the allotment or cancellation of allotment of evacuee property shall cease
What is urged by Mr Khanna on behalf of the Custodian General is that this is the effect of the provisions of sections 122 and 19 of the Act
Section 12 of the 1954 Act empowers the Central Government to acquire evacuee property for rehabilitation of displaced persons by publishing in the official gazette a notification to the effect that it has decided to acquire such evacuee property in pursuance of this provision
It is common ground that by notification section R 0 697 dated March 24 1955 the Central Government decided to acquire all evacuee property allotted to displaced persons by the Custodian under the Conditions contained in the notification of the Government of Punjab in the Department of Rehabilitation No 4892 6 dated July 8 1949 except certain categories of property specified in the schedule
The Raikot lands were allotted to the appellants under the aforesaid notification of the Government of Punjab
It is not disputed on their behalf that they do not fall within any of the excepted categories of property set out in the schedule
Sub section 2 of section 12 of the Act 1 ILR 1957 Punj
333 provides that on the publication of the notification under sub section 1 the right title or interest of any evacuee in the property specified in the notification shall immediately stand extinguished and that property shall vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances
The power of the Custodian under the  to allot any property to a person or to cancel an allotment existing in favour of a person rests on the fact that the property vests in him
But the consequence of the publication of the notification by the Central Government under section 121 of the with respect to any property or a class of property would be to divest the Custodian completely of his right in the property flowing from section 8 of the  and vest that property in the Central Government
He would therefore not be competent to deal with the property in any manner in the absence of any provision in either of these two enactments permitting him to do so
No provision was however pointed out to us in either of these Acts whereunder despite the Vesting of the property in the Central Government the Custodian was empowered to deal with it
Sub section
4 of section 12 of the 1954 Act provides that all evacuee property acquired under that section shall form part of the compensation pool
Under section 161 of this Act the Central Government is empowered to take such measures as it considers necessary or expedient for the custody management and disposal of the compensation pool
Sub section
2 of section 16 empowers the Central Government to appoint such officers as it deems fit or to constitute such authority or corporation as it deems fit for the purpose of managing and disposing of the properties forming part of the compensation pool
Section 19 of the Act provides that notwithstanding anything contained in any contract or any other law for the time being in force but subject to the rules that may be made under the Act the managing officer or managing corporation may cancel any allotment etc under which any evacuee property acquired under the Act is held or 334 occupied by a person whether such allotment or lease was granted before or after the commencement of the Act
This provision thus confers the power to deal with evacuee property acquired under the Act only on a managing officer appointed or managing corporation constituted under the Act and makes no mention whatsoever of the Custodian appointed under the 
No doubt under section 10 of the the Custodian is empowered to manage evacuee property and in exercise of his power he will be competent to allot such property to any person or to cancel an allotment or lease made in favour of a person
Apart from the fact that subsequent to the issue of the notification under section 121 of the  the property would cease to be evacuee property the aforesaid powers of the Custodian would be in conflict with those conferred by section 19 of the 1954 Act on a managing officer or a managing corporation constituted under that Act
In other words to that extent the provisions of section 10 of the 1950 Act and section 19 of the 1954 Act cannot stand together
As already stated the powers conferred by sub section
1 of section 19 of the 1954 Act are to prevail notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force
Therefore they must prevail over the provisions of B 10 of the 
It is true that there is nothing on record to show that a managing officer was appointed with respect to the Raikot properties acquired under the notification dated March 24 1955
But it is not necessary to ascertain that fact
The point is who after the coming into force of the 1954 Act could cancel an allotment
Section 10 says that only a managing officer or a managing corporation can do so
This means that no one else can do so even though some other law may have authorised another person or authority to cancel an allotment
Mr Achhruram however contended that the appellants  rights were protected by section 10 of the 
Section 10 runs as follows 335 Special procedure for payment of compensation in certain cases
Where any immovable property has been leased or allotted to a displaced person by the Custodian under the conditions published aby the notification of the Government of Pun
jab in the Department of Rehabilitation No 4892 S or 4892 S dated the 8th July 1949 or bby the notification of the Government of Patiala and East Punjab States Union in the Department of Rehabilitation No 8R or 9R dated the 23rd July 1949 and published in the official Gazette of that State dated the 7th August 1949 and such property is acquired under the provisions of this Act and forms part of the compensation pool the displaced person shall so long as the property remains vested in the Central Government continue in possession of such property on the same conditions on which he held the property immediately before the date of the acquisition and the Central Government may for the purpose of payment of compensation to such displaced person transfer to him such property on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed
 It is followed by an explanation but that explanation has no bearing upon the point urged by Mr Achhruram
It is no doubt true that the Raikot lands were allotted to the appellants under the notification referred to in el
a of this section and therefore they would be entitled to the benefits conferred by this section provided they satisfied all the other requirements of this section express or implied
It is implicit in this section that the displaced person to whom land was allotted held the land and was in possession of such property at the date of the notification
It is not disputed that the appellants ceased to hold and had lost possession of the Raikot lands before the publication of this notification
Even assuming that the order of the Custodian cancelling the allotment in their favour was erroneous there will be no difference in the result because what is essential is the facts of holding and possession of the land on the date of the notification
336 Mr Achhruram then referred to the Conditions on which allotments of land may be made under the notification referred to in sub section
10a and pointed out that under condition No 6 the Custodian or rehabilitation authority would be competent to resume or cancel an allotment only on one of the grounds set out in that condition
He said that the cancellation of the allotment in favour of the appellants was impermissible inasmuch as it was not based upon any of the grounds set out in the 6th condition
That may or may not be so
We would repeat that the appellants had lost their possession before the publication of the notification and are thus not entitled to the protection of the section
Moreover the Custodian by reason of the divesting of the property as from March 24 1955 had become functus officio with respect to it and could not rectify any error made by him in the past in the matter of cancellation of allotment
It is true that had the appellants been in possession at the critical time they would have had the right to obtain a permanent transfer in their favour of the Raikot lands and by virtue of what happened and without any fault on their part they have been deprived of that right
That is indeed unfortunate but none of the authorities created by the could rectify the wrong that has been done by them to the appellant
The question whether it could be rectified by any of the authorities constituted by the or not was not canvassed before us and therefore there is no occasion for us to say anything about it
Mr Achhruram contended that r 74 of the Displaced Persons Compensation and Rehabilitation Rules 1955 stood in the way of the Custodian allotting the Raikot property to the respondents during the pendency of the proceedings before the Custodian General
That rule reads as follows Allotments which are the subject matter of dispute
No property in a rural area in respect of which any case is pending in a Civil Court or before a Deputy Custodian Custodian or Custodian General shall be transferred to the allottee
337 The aforesaid rule is in Chapter X headed Payment of compensation under section 10 of the Act and deals with a transfer of property to an allottee by way of final settlement of his claim to compensation and does not deal with the question of allotment on a quasi permanent basis
Moreover this rule applies to a proceeding before an authority created by the and not to an authority created by the 
There is therefore no substance in this argument
Finally Mr Achhruram referred to section 17 of the 1954 Act and to r 102 of the Rules framed thereunder and said that the powers of the managing officers appointed under the Act are confined only to properties which are entrusted to them for management and not with respect to any other property
Section 17 deals with the function and duties of managing officers and managing corporation
Sub section
1 provides that managing officers and managing corporations will perform such functions as may be assigned to them under the Act
Sub section
2 provides that subject to the provisions of the Act and the rules made thereunder a managing officer or a managing corporation may among other things take such measures as he or it considers it necessary or expedient for the purpose of securing administering preserving managing or disposing of any property in the compensation pool entrusted to him or it etc
The argument is that unless there is such entrustment the managing officer or managing corporation has no function to perform with respect to evacuee property
His contention appears to be that there is nothing to show that this property was entrusted to a managing officer
In the first place the section confers the particular powers On managing officers or managing corporations only and no one else
Therefore even if no managing officer or managing corporation was appointed with respect to that property no one else could exercise the power of cancellation of allotment
Further there is no ground in the special leave petition or in the statement of the 43 338 case that there is no entrustment in fact of this property or this class of properties to a managing officer or managing corporation
He cannot therefore be permitted to make out a new case at this stage of argument
That apart this argument assumes that the property despite the publication of the notification under section 121 of the Act continues to be evacuee property
Again this provision is a general provision and the particular provision regarding cancellation of allotment is section 191 of the Act which does not refer to entrustment at all and it is this provision which must prevail over the general provision
He then contends that the provisions of section 191 of the Act being subject to rules made under the Act must be read along with r 102 which deals with cancellation of allotments of leases
That rule reads thus Cancellation of allotments and leases A managing officer or a managing corporation may sell any property in the compensation pool entrusted to him or to it cancel an allotment or terminate a lease or vary the terms of any such lease or allotment if the allottee or lessee as the case may be ahas sublet or parted with the possession of the whole or any part of the property allotted or leased to him without the permission of a competent authority or bhas used or is using such property for a purpose other than that for which it was allotted or leased to him without the permission of a competent authority or c has committed any act which is destructive of or permanently injurious to the property or d for any other sufficient reason to be recorded in writing Provided that no action shall be taken under this rule unless the allottee or the lessee as the case may be has been given a reasonable opportunity of being heard
 He points out that in the first place the rule speaks of land entrusted  to the manager and therefore would operate only if entrustment is established
What we have said in regard to section 17 would apply 339 here also
He then says that this rule restricts the powers of a managing officer or a managing corporation in the matter of cancellation of allotment in the sense that it permits cancellation only on certain specified grounds and therefore it cannot be said that section 191 of the Act is completely in conflict with section 10 of the in so far as the question of cancellation of allotment is concerned
We cannot accept the argument because apart from the fact that the acquired properties have ceased to be evacuee properties el
d of r 102 permits the managing officer or managing corporation to cancel allotment for any other sufficient reason to be recorded in writing
The only effect of r 102 is to permit cancellation of an allotment for reasons stated
That is all
In our opinion therefore this rule does not help the appellants
Mr Khanna had raised three other points but upon the view which we have taken as to the effect of sections 12 and 19 of the Act it is not necessary to consider them
The appeal is accordingly dismissed
We however make no order as to costs because had there been no delay on the part of the Custodian General in dealing with the revision application the present situation would not have arisen
Appeal dismissed


Summary:
The appellants who are displaced persons from West Pakistan were granted quasi permanent allotment of some lands in village Raikot in 1949
On October 31 1952 the Assistant Custodian cancelled the allotment of 14 allottees in village Karodian and also cancelled the allotment of the Appellants in Raikot but allotted lands to them in village Karodian and allotted the lands of Raikot to other persons
The 14 allottees of village Karodian as well as the appellants applied for review of the orders of cancellation of their allotment
The application of the 14 allottees was dismissed
They preferred a revision to the Custodian General who cancelled the appellant s allotment 1 Cal
926 329 in Karodian and restored the allotment of the 14 allottees on December 17 1954 Thereupon on January 6 1955 the appellants moved the Custodian General for calling up their review application and for revising the order of October 31 1952 cancelling their allotment in Raikot
The Custodian General refused to revise the order on the ground that his power to revise had been taken away by the 
The appellants contended that the Custodian General had the power to revise the order
Held that after the enactment of the  the Custodian General ceased to have the power to cancel allotments
By the issuing of a notification under section 121 of this Act the Fight title or interest of the evacuee in the property specified in the notification was extinguished and the property vested absolutely in the Central
Government
The right of the Custodian manage the property under the  came to an end and the management vested in a new set of officers
Even though no managing officer was appointed or a managing corporation constituted under the new Act to manage the property no one else could exercise the power of cancellation of allotment
Bal Mukund vs The State of Punjab ILR 1957 Punj
712 approved