Appeals 
101 to 104 of 1957
Appeals from the judgment and order dated February 4 1954 of the Mysore High Court in Regular Second Appeals Nos 5 and 6 of 1953 and Writ Petitions Nos 67 and 68 of 1953 respectively
H N Sanyal Additional Solicitor General of India RGanapathy Iyer and D Gupta for the appellant
A V Visvanatha Sastri M section K Sastri and  T R V Sastri for A G Ratnaparkhi for the respondents
February 20
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by WANCHOO J
These are four appeals on certificates granted by the Mysore High Court
They will be disposed of together as the points raised in them are common
The facts of these cases are complicated and may be mentioned in some detail
On July 7 1949 the then State of Mysore passed The Mysore Administration of Evacuee Property Emergency Act No XLVII of 1949 hereinafter called the
first Mysore Act
It provided for the appointment of a Custodian of Evacuee Property for the State of Mysore and other officers subordinate to him for the purpose of administering evacuee property in that 858 State
Section 2c defined an  evacuee  and section 2d evacuee property 
Section 5 laid down that all evacuee property situate in Mysore would vest in the custodian
Section 6 provided for a notification by the Custodian in the Mysore Gazette of evacuee property vested in him
Section 8 provided that any person claiming any right to or interest in any property notified under section 6 as evacuee property or in respect of which a demand requiring a surrender of possession had been made by the Custodian might arefer a claim to the Custodian on the ground that he property was not evacuee property or his interest in the property had not been affected by the provisions of that Act
It was further provided that the Custodian was to hold a summary inquiry in the prescribed manner into such claims and after taking such evidence as might be produced pass an order stating the reasons there for either rejecting the claim or allowing it wholly or in part
Finally section 30 provided for an appeal to the High Court where the original order under section 8 had been passed by the Custodian an Additional Custodian or an Authorised Deputy Custodian
This Act remained in force till it was replaced by the Mysore Administration of Evacuee Property Second Emergency Act No LXXIV of 1949 hereinafter called the second Mysore Act which came into force on November 29 1949
On September 21 1949 the Custodian issued a notification by which he declared the properties
of the two respondents as evacuee properties which had vested in him as the respondents had become evacuees
Thereupon two claims were filed under section 8 of the first Mysore Act separately by the two respondents
These claims were investigated by the Deputy Custodian who dismissed the same on April 17 1950 declaring that the properties were evacuee properties
 It may be mentioned that in the meantime the second Mysore Act had come into force by which the first Mysore Act was repealed
But section 532 of the second Mysore Act provided that anything done or any action taken
in the exercise of any power conferred by the first Mysore Act shall be deemed to have been done 859 or taken in the exercise of the powers conferred by the second Mysore Act
It was also provided that any penalty incurred or proceeding commenced under the first Mysore Act shall be deemed to be a penalty incurred or proceeding commenced under the second Mysore Act as if the latter Act were in force on the day on which such thing was done action taken penalty incurred or proceeding commenced
There was how
ever one difference in the two Mysore Acts
The first Mysore Act had provided by section 5 for the vesting of all evacuee property situate in Mysore ipso facto in the Custodian section 6 then provided for notification by the Custodian and section 8 for preferring claims
The second Mysore Act however made a departure from this and section 5 thereof provided that  a where the Custodian is of opinion that any property is evacuee property within the meaning of this Act he may after causing notice thereof to be given in such manner as may be prescribed to the persons interested and after holding such inquiry into the matter as the circumstances of the case permit pass an order declaring any such property to be evacuee property
 Section 6 then provided for vesting of any property declared to be evacuee property in the Custodian
Thus while under the first Mysore Act the evacuee property vested in the Custodian and the person who claimed that it was not evacuee property had to make an application under section 8 and to get it declared that it was not evacuee property under the second Mysore Act there was no vesting in the Custodian and the Custodian had to give a notice in the manner prescribed if he thought any property to be evacuee property and after hearing the persons interested to declare the property to be evacuee property and it was only thereafter that the property vested in him as evacuee property
Further the second Mysore Act also defined the  Custodian General  as the Custodian General of Evacuee Property in India appointed by the Government of India under section 5 of the Administration of Evacuee Property Ordinance Central Ordinance No XXVII of 1049 which had come 860 into force on October 18 1949
Further there was a change in the forum of appeals and instead of the High Court the appeal lay to the Custodian General from an order passed under section 5 of the second Mysore Act where the original order had been passed by the Custodian Additional Custodian or Authorised Deputy Custodian and in some cases to the District Judge designated in this behalf by the Government under sections 22 and 23 of the second Mysore Act
In addition provision was made by section 25 of the second Mysore Act for revision by the Custodian General of orders passed by the District Judge or the Custodian on appeal
It may be mentioned that the  No XXXI of 1950 hereinafter called the Act came into force on the day the Deputy Custodian passed the order dated April 17 1950
It may also be mentioned that in the meantime the Constitution of India had come into force on January 26 1950 and the former State of Mysore had become the new Part B State of Mysore under the Constitution
The Act was to apply to the whole of India except the States of Assam West Bengal Tripura Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir
Thus the Act applied to the Part B State of Mysore on April 17 1950 and though there was no specific provision then in the Act repealing the second Mysore Act it is not seriously disputed that the Act by necessary implication repealed the second Mysore Act as the Act substantially enacted all that was contained in the second Mysore Act
However that may be appeals were filed against the order of April 17 1950 before the Custodian
These appeals were allowed on August 22 1950
The Custodian held that there was not sufficient evidence to prove the respondents as evacuees and consequently the properties in question could not be treated as evacuee properties
On October 31950 the Custodian General gave notices to the respondents under section 27 of the Act in respect of the order of the Custodian dated August 22 1950 and asked them to show cause why  the said order of the Custodian be not revised On December 7 1950 the Administration of Evacuee 861 Property Amendment Act No LXVI of 1950 was passed by which inter alia section 58 of the Act was amended and it was provided that if immediately before the
commencement of the Act there was in force in any State to which the Act extended any law which corresponded to the Act and which was not repealed by sub section
1 it shall stand repealed
This was made retrospective from the date from which the Act came into force namely April 17 1950 and so the repeal of evacuee property laws which were in force in those States to which the Act applied which was implicit in it was made explicit from December 7 1950 so that frum April 17 1950 only the Act held the field
On February 11 1952 the Custodian General set aside the order of the Custodian dated August 22 1950 and ordered that further proceedings in these cases should be taken before the Custodian as an original matter and be was directed to dispose of the cases afresh in the light of the evidence already recorded and such other evidence as might be produced before him by the two respondents
When the matter thus came back to the Custodian he ordered the Deputy Custodian on April 7 1952 to record the evidence and then submit the record to him for final disposal
Eventually the matter came before the Custodian for final disposal on December 2 1952
He held that the two respondents were evacuees and their properties were evacuee properties
This was followed by two appeals to the High Court on January 2 1953
As however the respondents felt some doubt whether any appeal lay to the High Court two writ petitions were also filed on September 7 1953 against the order of the Custodian
The two appeals as well as the two writ petitions were disposed of by the High Court by a common judgment on February 4 1954
The High Court held that the appeals before it were competent
It further seems to have held that the CustodianGeneral had no power under section 27 of the Act to revise the order passed by the Custodian on August 221950
Finally as the High Court held that the appeals were competent it went into the matter as an appellate court and came to the conclusion that the order of the 862 Custodian dated December 2 1952 was erroneous
It therefore allowed the appeals as well as the writ petitions and set aside the order of the Custodian dated December 2 1952 and restored the earlier order of the Custodian dated August 22 1950
Thereupon followed applications by the Custodian of Evacuee Property Mysore for certificates to file appeals to this Court on which the High Court granted the certificates and that is how the four appeals have come up before us
The main contention of the learned Additional Solicitor General on behalf of the appellant is two
He urges firstly that the High Court was in error when it held that the Custodian General had no power to set aside the order of August 22 1950 under section 27 of the Act
In the second place his contention is that the High Court was in error in holding that an appeal lay to it from the order of the Custodian dated December 2 1952
Therefore the High Court could not deal with the matter before it as if it were hearing an appeal it could only consider the writ petitions before it and in doing so it would not be justified in issuing a writ of certiorari against the order of December 2 1952 because that order was not passed without jurisdiction and there was no error of law apparent on the face of the record to call for interference with it
Mr Sastri for the respondents In reply submits that as the proceedings in these oases began under a 8 of the first Mysore Act and as there was nothing corresponding to that section either in the second Mysore Act or in the Act which replaced successively the first Mysore Act the High Court was entitled to hear an appeal from the order of Decem ber 2 1952 as that order must be held to have be On passed in a proceeding under the first Mysore Act even if it be that the Custodian General had the jurisdiction to set aside the order of August 22 1960 under section 27 of the Act
Further Mr Sastri contends that the Custodian General had no jurisdiction to set aside the order of August 22 1960 under section 27 of the Act
863 The first point therefore which falls for consideration is whether the Custodian General had jurisdiction to set aside the order of August 221950 under section 27 for if he had no such jurisdiction the High Court may be entitled after holding that the Custodian General s order of February 11 1952 was without jurisdiction to set aside all subsequent proceedings leavingthe order of August 22 1950 operative and in full force assuming for this purpose that the High
Court had jurisdiction in writ proceedings to set aside the order of the Custodian General whose headquarters were in New Delhi
Now the first Mysore Act had no provision relating to the Custodian General
It was the second Mysore Act which for the first time brought in the CustodianGeneral and gave him powers of revision under section 25 with respect to orders passed by the Custodian or the District Judge in
appeal
Then came the Act on April 17 1950 by which the Custodian General was given the power to call for the record of any procee in which any District Judge or Custodian had passed an order for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of any such order and to pass such order in relation thereto as he thought fit
This provision is wider than the provision in the second Mysore Act and is not confined to orders passed by a District Judge or a Custodian in appeal and would apply even to original orders passed by the Custodian which term according to the definition in section 2c includes any Additional Deputy or Assistant Custodian of evacuee property
We have already pointed out that the Act provides substantially for all matters contained in the second Mysore Act and therefore must be held to have repealed the second Mysore Act by implication
but in any case the question whether the second Mysore Act was repealed by the Act when it came into force on April 17 1950 I been set at rest by the later Central Act LXVI of 1950
That Act was passed on December 7 1950 and 2 thereof began thus For section 58 of the  the following section shall be 864 substituted
and shall be deemed always to have been substituted
 This clearly shows that Central Act LXVI was amending section 58 retrospectively from the date on which it came into force namely April 17 1950
The new section 58 which was thus substituted in the Act from April 17 1950 contained sub section
2 which is as follows  If immediately before the commencement of this Act there is in force in any State to which this Act extends any law which corresponds to this Act and which is not repealed by sub section 1 that corresponding law shall stand repealed
 It is clear therefore that the second Mysore Act was expressly repealed as from April 17 1950 by the Act in view of this substituted section 58 put into it retrospectively by Act LXVI for the second Mysore Act was undoubtedly a law corresponding to the Act
The High Court seems to have overlooked the fact that Act LXVI gave retrospective operation to the new section 582 which was inserted in the Act
It seems to think that the second Mysore Act was repealed on December 7 1950 when Act LXVI came into force
The High Court was further in error in holding that the amended sub section 3 of section 58 which was put into the Act also came into force from December 7 1950 while as matter of fact it came into force from April 17 1950 when the Act itself first came into force
The position when the Custodian General gave notice in October 1950 under section 27 of the Act therefore was that the first Mysore Act had already been re pealed by the second Mysore Act and the second Mysore Act had been repealed by the Act as from April 17 1950 and therefore in October 1960 only the Act held the field
The question then arises whether it was open to the Custodian General to revise the order dated August 22 1950 under section 27 of the Act in February 1952
Now section 27 is very wide in terms and gives power to the Custodian General at any
time either on his own motion or on application made to him in this behalf
 to call for the record of any proceeding in which any District Judge or Custodian 865 has passed an order for the purpose of satisfying himself as to the legality or propriety of any order and to pass such order in relation thereto as he thinks fit
Prima facie therefore these wide words give power to the Custodian General to revise any order passed by the Custodian
It is urged on behalf of then respondents that the Custodian General could not revise the order dated August 22 1950
We are not impressed by this argument
Now the Act was passed in 1950 to set up a central organisation for the custody management and control etc
 of property declared by law to be evacuee property with the Custodian General at the head
It is also clear that all similar laws existing in various States on the date the Act came into force namely April 17 1950 were repealed by it
The intention of the Legislature obviously was to provide for the custody and management etc
of evacuee property in the manner provided in the Act with the Custodian General as the head of the organisation
Further action taken with respect to evacuee property under the first Mysore Act was deemed under section 53 2 of the second Mysore Act to have been taken thereunder and finally any action taken in the exercise of the power conferred by the second Mysore Act was deemed to have been taken in the exercise of the powers conferred by the Act
Therefore any action taken with respect to evacuee property and any order passed by any Custodian in any proceeding with respect to such property would be subject to the revisory jurisdiction of the CustodianGeneral under section 27 in view of the wide language thereof and the fact that proceedings started under the first Mysore Act
would not in our opinion make any difference to the power of the Custodian General under section 27
Obviously the order of August 22 1950 was passed when the Act was in force in a proceeding relating to evacuee property by the Custodian and the Custodian General would be competentunder section 27 to call for the record of that proceeding and satisfy himself as to the legality or propriety of any such order and thereafter pass such order in relation thereto so he thought fit We are therefore of opinion that  866 considering the purpose for which the Act was passed and the successive saving clauaes in the second Mysore Act and in the Actthe Custodian General had the power under section 27 to call for the record of the proceed
ing in which the order of August  22 1950 was passed ad consider its legality or propriety and Pass such order in relation thereto as he thought fit
Even if the notice of October 1950 may be open to question as it was issued before Act LXVI of 1950 was passed there can be no doubt that the order of February 1952 under a 27 was passed after hearing the parties and would be valid and within the jurisdiction of the Custodian General when it was passed
Therefore the order of the Custodian General dated February II 1952 being within his jurisdiction would not be liable to be set aside on a writ of certiorari as if the Custodian General had acted without jurisdiction
The subsequent proceedings therefore which took place after the order of the Custodian General would also be with jurisdiction and would not be liable to be set aside on a writ of certiorari on the ground that they were without jurisdiction
The High Court thereforewas in error in holding that the order of the Custodian General dated February 11 1952was without juries diction and therefore all subsequent proceedings taken in pursuance thereof were also without jurisdiction with the result that the order of August 22 1950 stood fully operative
This brings us to the next question whether any appeal lay to the High Court against the order of December 2 1952
There is nodoubt that the proceedings in the present case commenced under the first Mysore Act with a notification under is
6 and claim applications under section 8
If the original proceeding had finished when the first Mysore Act was in force and the order of December 2 1952 had been passed during its operation there would undoubtedly have been as appeal to the High Court under section 30 thereof
But the first Mysore Act was repealed by the second Mysore Act in
November 1949 and the second Mysore Act was in its turn repealed by the Act a from April 1950
The questions therefore that arises for consideration 867 is Whether after the repeal of the first Mysore Act an appeal would still lie to the High Court from the order of December 2 1952
The main contention of Mr Sastri in this behalf is that if the second Mysore Act or the Act contained provisions which were similar to the provisions contained in section 8 of the first Mysore Act it may have been possible to say that the remedy provided by the first Mysore Act under section 30 had been superseded by the remedy provided in the Act that remedy being an appeal to the Custodian General under section 24 of the Act
The argument further proceeds that neither the second Mysore Act nor the Act provides anything similar to what was provided by section 8 of the first Mysore Act
Therefore even though the first Mysore Act was repealed by the second Mysore Act the proceedings in the present case must be deemed to be still under the first Mysore Act which must be deemed to be existing for this purpose and therefore the right of appeal being a vested one and rising when the proceedings commenced there would still be a right of appeal under section 30 of the first Mysore Act in spite of its being repealed
When the matter came before the Custodian in 1952 it was contended before him that the proceedings should be taken to be under the first Mysore Act
He accepted this contention though he added that it was immaterial for the purposes of the present cases as the definition of  evacuee  in section 2c of the first Mysore Act was practically the same as in section 2d of the Act
It is urged that in view of the manner in which the Custodian dealt with the case when he passed the order
dated December 2 1952 the proceedings before him must be taken to be under the first Mysore Act and if so an appeal would lie to the High Court under section 30of the first Mysore Act
This view has been accepted by the High Court also and that is why it hold that the appeals before it were competent and it is the correctness of this view which has been challenged before us
Now there is no doubt that the right of appeal is a substantive right and arises when A proceeding is commenced and cannot be taken away by subsequent 868 legislation except by express provision or necessary intendment
There is no express provision in the present case taking away the right of appeal conferred by the first Mysore Act
We have therefore to see whether it can be said that the right of appeal conferred by the first Mysore Act has been taken away by necessary intendment by the subsequent legislation  and if so whether it has been completely taken away or has been replaced by another right of appeal though not to the High Court
Under the first Mysore Act as we have already pointed out evacuee property ipso facto vested in the Custodian under section 5
There
after the Custodian was expected to notify such property under section 6
On such notification or where the Custodian demanded surrender of possession a person claiming any right to the property was entitled to make an application preferring a claim before the Custodian
That application was dealt by the Custodian in a summary manner and he had the power either to reject the application or allow it in whole or in part
An order passed by the Deputy or the Assistant Custodian under section 8 was appealable to the Custodian and an order passed by the Custodian or Additional Custodian or an authorized Deputy Custodian was appealable to the High Court
The contention on behalf of the respondents is that when the first Mysore Act was replaced by the second Mysore Act there was a vital change in the procedure and therefore cases in which proceedings had commenced under section 8 could only be dealt with under the first Mysore Act and for that purpose the first Mysore Act would be deemed to be alive under a 6 e of the Mysore General Clauses Act No III of 1899 which corresponds to section 6 e of the General Clauses Act No X of 1897
Now there is no doubt that the proceedings in these cases commenced under the first Mysore Act though they terminated when that Act was no longer in force
What we have to see is whether there is anything in the repealing legislation which by necessary intendment took away the right of appeal provided by the first Mysore Act and substituted in its place another right of appeal provided by the repealing Act 869 The argument of Mr Sastri is that there is nothing in the second Mysore Act which repealed the first Mysore Act corresponding to section 8 of the first Mysore Act and therefore in spite of the repeal of the first Mysore Act proceedings commenced under a 8 of that Act would continue to be governed thereby including the right of appeal
In this connection he urges that the scheme of the second Mysore Act with respect to evacuee property is vitally different from the scheme which is to be found in the first Mysore Act
In the second Mysore Act there is no provision corresponding to section 5 of the first Mysore Act by which any property becomes ipso far to evacuee property and vests in the Custodian
Under the second Mysore Act the Custodian has first to form a tentative opinion whether the property is evacuee property and after he has formed such opinion he gives notice thereof to the persons interested after such notice is given he holds inquiry into the matter and thereafter passes an order declaring the property to be evacuee property
Thus under the first Mysore Act the property became evacuee property ipso facto and the person claiming any interest in it had to proceed under section 8 and make a claim which had to be investigated and thereafter the Custodian finally declared whether the property which he had notified under section 6 was evacuee property or not
Under the second Mysore Act there being no vesting ipso facto the proceeding commences with a notice by the Custodian to the person interested followed by an inquiry after which the Custodian decides to declare the property evacuee if he finds it to be so under the law
Further under the second Mysore Act when an order was passed declaring property to be evacuee property under a 5 it was open to the person aggrieved by such order to file an appeal to the Custodian where the original order had been passed by the Deputy Custodian or Assistant Custodian and to the Custodian General where the original order had been passed by the Custodian Additional Custodian or Authorised Deputy Custodian
There was also in certain cases appeal to the District Judge but we are not concerned with that in the 870 present appeals
The position under the Act was also the same as under the second Mysore Act and the right of appeal was also similar
It is thus true that there has been a change in the procedure by which evacuee property is finally declared to be evacuee property
Under the first Mysore Act the property became evacuee property and the person had to go and file a claim and establish that it was not
That claim was investigated and after investigation the Custodian had to come to a final conclusion whether the property was evacuee or not If he came to the conclusion that it was evacuee property the vesting under section 5 was confirmed
If on the other hand he came to the conclusion that the pro perty was not evacuee property the legal effect was that there was no vesting under section 5 of the first Mysore Act
Under the second Mysore Act the property did not ipso facto vest in the Custodian as evacuee property but he formed a tentative opinion as to whether it was evacuee property and then gave notices to the persons interested
They appeared before him and the matter was investigated
He then had to come to a final conclusion whether the property was evacuee property or not
If he came to the conclusion that it was evacuee property he declared it to be such if on the other hand he came to the conclusion that it was not evacuee property the proceedings came to an end
It will be seen therefore on a comparison of the two procedures that though there is difference between the two the difference is not of a vital or substantial nature
In the one case the  law started with the presumption that the property was evacuee property and the person interested had to go and make a claim and establish that it was not evacuee property and the matter had to be investigated and the Custodian finally had to come to the conclusion one way or the other
In the other case the law did not start with the presumption but only a tentative opinion was to be formed by the Custodian who gave notice to the person interested and the matter was then investigated and thereafter the Custodian had to decide finally one way or the other 871 But in both cases the question whether the property was evacuee property or not was investigated and it was only after investigation that it could be finally said whether the property was evacuee property or not
Therefore though there may be an apparent difference between what is provided by a 8 in the first Mysore Act and by section 5 in the second Mysore Act as also by section 7 in the Act the difference is not material and it is only after investigation whether under section 8 of the first Mysore Act or under section 5 of the second Mysore Act or under section 7 of the Act that the Custodian comes to the final conclusion whether the property is evacuee property or not
Under the circumstances it would not in our opinion be unreasonable to say that the investigation provided under a 8 of the first Mysore Act and the subsequent remedies following on an order under section 8 are in substance the same as the investigation provided under section 5 of the second Mysore
Act ores
7 of the Act and the subsequent remedies following on an order thereon
We cannot therefore agree with the High Court that there is nothing in the second Mysore
Act to correspond to section 8 of the first Mysore Act and therefore these proceedings which began under the first Mysore Act must continue to be governed by that Act in spite of its repeal by the second Mysore Act
As we have pointed out above the proceedings under section 8 of the first Mysore Act are in substance equal to proceedings under section 5 of the second Mysore Act and therefore proceedings commenced under the first Mysore Act must in view of a 532 of the second Mysore Act be deemed to be proceedings under section 5 of the latter Act
Once that conclusion is reached and it seems to us that it is inevitable it follows that an order made in a proceeding commenced under section 8 of the first Mysore Act must be deemed to be an order made under section 51 of the second Mysore Act or under section 71 of the Act
In this connection it is relevant to point out that it could not have been the intention of the legislature to keep the first Mysore Act alive for certain purposes for all time the whole object of passing the subsequent Acts is plainly against such an assumption
872 The next question that arises is whether the second Mysore Act and the Act took away the right of appeal which lay to the High Court under the first Mysore Act and substituted for it another right of appeal by necessary intendment
As we have already Pointed out there is no express provision either in the second Mysore Act or in the Act in this behalf
But once it is held that proceedings which commenced under section 8 of the first Mysore Act must when the second Mysore Act came into force be deemed under section 532 thereof to be proceeding under section 51 or when the Act came into be deemed under section 583 thereof to be proceeding under section 71 and must be continued under those provisions it follows that the legislature necessarily intended that all subsequent action following an order under section 51 or section 71 must be taken under the second Mysore Act or under the Act as the case may be
It could not have been intended by the legislature when it was expressly providing for appeal from an order under section 51 of the second Mysore Act or under section 71 of the Act that a proceeding commenced under the first Mysore Act which was equivalent to a proceeding under section 51 or section 71 should continue to be governed in the matter of appeal by the first Mysore Act
This is therefore in our view a case where by necessary intendment though not by express provision the legislature intended that the provision as to appeals provided by subsequent legislation should supersede the provision as to appeals under the first Mysore Act
We may point out that this is not a case where the right of appeal disappears altogether all that happens is that where the order is passed by the Custodian the appeal lies to the Custodian General instead of to the High Court
The legislature has provided another forum where the appeal will lie and in the circumstances it must be held that by necessary intendment the legislature intended that forum alone to be the forum where the appeal will lie and not the forum under the first Mysore Act
Reference in this connection may be made to Garikapatti Veeraya vs 873 N Subbiah Choudhury 1 where this Court held that the vested right of appeal was a substantive right and was governed by the law prevailing at the time of th commencement of the suit and comprised all successive rights of appeal from court to court which really constituted one proceeding but added that such right could be taken away expressly or by necessary intendment
In the present cases we are of opinion that once proceedings under section 81 of the first Mysore Act are held to be similar to proceedings under section 51 of the second Mysore Act or section 71 of the Act it must necessarily follow that the legislature intended this all subsequent proceedings in the nature of appeal after the first Mysore Act came to an end must being the forum provided by the subsequent legislation We are therefore of opinion that the High Court was in error in holding that appeals to it lay from the order of December 2 1952
The result of the view we have taken is that the High Court was not justified in looking into the order of December 2 1952 as an appellate court though I would be justified in scrutinizing that order as if it was brought before it under article 226 of the Constitutional for issue of a writ of certiorari
The limit of th jurisdiction of the High Court in issuing writs of certiorari was considered by this Court in Hari Vis Kamath vs Syed Ahmed Ishaque and others 2 and the following four propositions were laid down 1 Certiorari will be issued for correcting errors of jurisdiction  2Certiorari will also be issued when the Court or Tribunal acts illegally in the exercise of its undoubted jurisdiction as when it decides without giving an opportunity to the parties to be heard or violates the principles of natural justice 3 The court issuing a writ of critorari acts in exercise of a supervisory land not appellate jurisdiction
One consequence of this is that the court will not review findings of fact reached by
the inferior court or tribunal even if they be erroneous 4An error in the decision or determination itself may also be amenable to a writ of certiorari if 1  1   874 it is a manifest error apparent on the face of the proceedings eg when it is based on clear ignorance or disregard of the provisions of law
In other words it is a patent error which can be corrected by certiorari but not a mere wrong decision
In the present case the Custodian had jurisdiction to decide the matter once it is held that the Castodian General had jurisdiction to set aside the order of August 22 1950
The main question for decision in these cases was whether the respondents were evacuees within the meaning of a 2c of the first Mysore Act
The questions that fall for decision under section 2o are questions of fact and as pointed out in Hari Vishnu Kamath s case 2 it is not open on a writ praying for certiorari to review findings of fact reached by an inferior court or tribunal even though they may be erroneous
Further unless there is a patent error of law there can be no interference by a writ of certiorari
While dealing with the writ petitions the main argument that appealed to the High Court was that the Custodian General had no Jurisdiction in revision to reopen the earlier proceedings and in consequence all subsequent proceedings were null and void The High Court was further aware of the fact that the ordinary remedy of the respondents in these cases against the order of December 2 1952 was to appeal to the Custodian General tinder section 24 of the Act but as it was of the view that the order of the Custodian General under a 27 was without jurisdiction it held that it should interfere and set aside the order of December 2 1952 which was also without jurisdiction and restore that of August 221950
In the view we have taken the order of the Custodian General was with jurisdiction and therefore there was in our opinion no reason for the High Court interfere in the exercise of its jurisdiction under article 226 of the Constitution with the order of December 2 1952 as this is a case where only a writ of certiorari could issue and that is not justified in view of the decision in Hari Vishnu Kamath s case1 1  875 We therefore allow the appeals set aside the order of the High Court and restore that of the Custodian dated December 2 1952
This of course will not take away the right if any of the respondents to approach the Custodian General for we have not considered the merits of the order of December 2 1952
In the circumstances of this case we pass no order as to costs
Appeals allowed


Summary:
The disputes regarding bonus to be paid to the  workmen of the appellant mill and other cotton textile mills in Greater Bombay for the year 1952 and 1953 were referred to the Industrial Court under the provisions of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act 1946 and while the references were pending an agreement was arrived at between the Mill owners  Association Bombay and the Rashtriya Mills Mazdoor Sangh a Representative Union of workmen in the cotton textile industry with respect to payment of bonus for the years 1952 to 1957 providing inter alia for payment of bonus even where a mill made actual loss the minimum bonus being 48 per cent
 of the basic wages earned during the year subject to such mill being entitled to adjust the amount thus paid by it as the minimum bonus against any available surplus in any subsequent year or years
This agreement was registered and was made enforceable as an award 1 LLR 2 AIR 1937 Mad
763 106 against those mills which were parties thereto
The appellant however did not sign the agreement and its case before the Industrial Court was that it had been continuously making losses from 1950 to 1955
On July 31 1956 the Government of Bombay issued a notification under section 1142 Of the Act directing that the award made by the Industrial Court aforesaid for payment of bonus for the years 1952 and 1953 and also for the years 1954 to 1957 be enforced against the appellant
The appellant challenged the validity of section 114 on the grounds 1 that it offended article 14 Of the Constitution inasmuch as it gave an unguided and arbitrary power to the State Government to discriminate between various sets of employers and employees and make an order on any one set at its pleasure leaving out others 2 that it offended article 19ig in that it put an unrea sonable restriction on a person s right to carry on business and 3 that it prevented a party from having an industrial dispute decided by an Industrial Court under the Act
In any event the appellant contended that the notification was bad because a it was made while a reference was pending in an Industrial Court and therefore took away the jurisdiction of that Court to decide the pending references and b the notification went beyond the powers conferred on the State Government by section 114 since under that section the Government was bound by the decisions of the Full Bench in view of section 95A but in the present case it ignored a decision of the Full Bench which provided that no bonus would be payable by an employer where it had made no profits
Held Sarkar j dissenting that the notification dated July 31 1956 was beyond the powers conferred on the State Government under section 1142 Of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act 1946 and must therefore be struck down There are three limitations on
the power of the State Government when acting under section 1142 1 that it is limited by the subject matter of the agreements or settlement submission or award sought to be extended 2 that it has to be in conformity with the industrial law laid down by the Full Bench of the Industrial Court and also by any decision of the Supreme Court and 3 that the State Government s power to make a direction under that section is co terminus with the power of an adjudicator and the State cannot do what an adjudicator cannot do under the Act
Action taken by the State Government under section 1142 is a proceeding under the Act within the meaning Of section 95A of the Act
The New Maneckchowk Spining Co Ltd and others vs The Textile Labouy Association 1961 3 SCR I relied on
Per Sarkar J 1 Section 114 of the Bombay Industrial Relations Act 1946 does not offend article 14 Of the Constitution
The object of the Act is the settlement of industrial disputes and 107 attainment of industrial peace and the section does not confer absolute and arbitrary power
2 The restrictions imposed by section 1142 are reasonable and have been put in the interest of the general public
Consequently the section does not contravene article 19ig
Bijay Cotton Mills Ltd vs The State of Ajmer   referred to
3 The provisions of the Act must be read together and in cases in which power under section 1142 has been exercised the right to ask for an adjudication by an Industrial Court must be considered either as taken away or unavailing
4 The issue of a notification under section 1142 is not a proceeding as contemplated by section 95A and therefore any question of complying with any Full Bench decision does not arise
5 Section 114 directly permits and contemplates a notification which would produce a result in variance with a decision of the Supreme Court and therefore a notification duly issued under that section cannot be said to have been issued mala fide
Muir Mills Co Ltd vs Suti Mills Mazdoor Union Kanpur   referred to
6 The Act is not invalid and the notification of July 31 1956 is unobjectionable and cannot be set aside