ivil Appeal No 341 of 1973
From the Judgment and Order dated 2621971 of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in LPA No 5661968
Harbans Singh for the Appellants
RS Sodhi and SK Sinha for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by KHALID J
This is an appeal by certificate against the Judgment of a full bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court dated 20th November 1970
The question involved in this appeal is ingenious but untenable
The question re ferred to the full bench reads as follows Whether after the re organisation of the State of Punjab the land owners owning land in both the States of Punjab and Haryana can claim to retain the permissible area in each State separately after 1st of November 1966
If so whether an order declaring the area to be surplus passed prior to the date above said but which order has not been implemented and the surplus land so declared has not in fact been utilised would continue to have effect after said date Now the facts
Balwant Singh was a displaced person from West Pakistan
He owned in all 67 standard acres of land distributed in various villages
According to him he had sold some properties to strangers and the remaining in favour of his wife and minor son in 1957
On 8th November 1960 when proceedings under the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act 1930 for short the Act were initiated  the Special Collector Punjab declared 29 standard acres be longing to him as surplus area
While doing so the trans fers made by him mentioned above were ignored
He had an option to choose the property which fell to his share
He opted for the entire land belonging to him and situated in village Samani as his permissible area and did not opt for any area in Mohamad Pera District Ferozepore
The Special Collector reserved for him about 18 standard acres out of his holding in village Dhab Kharial in order to make up his permissible area of 50 standard acres
This part of the order of the Special Collector though 695 challenged in appeal was confirmed by the Commissioner Jullundar Division on 5th January 1965 since the appeal before him was held to be barred by limitation
The appel lant pursued the matter before the Financial Commissioner Planning Punjab_by filing a revision
This was dismissed on 19 2 1965
On 1st November 1966 the  for short Re organisation Act came into force
The State of Punjab was distributed under the Act to the present State of Punjab State of Haryana Union Territory of Chand igarh and Union Territory of Himachal Pradesh
In December 1966 Balwant Singh his wife and his minor son filed a writ petition for the issuance of necessary directions to the States of Punjab and Haryana restraining them from utilising the surplus area declared by the Special Collector by his order dated 8 11 1960
It is relevant to note here that the original properties that belonged to him fell within the new State of Punjab and the new State of Haryana
The matter came before a learned Single Judge
The following questions were raised before him 1 That after the States Reorganisation persons owning lands both in the State of Punjab and Haryana could claim that they should be allowed permissible area in both the States separately 2 that orders passed regarding surplus area prior to 1st November 1966 and which area had not been utilised till then should be deemed to have no effect and 3 that the proceedings declaring surplus land were bad for want of notice to the transferees
These contentions were repelled by the learned Single Judge
He took the matter in appeal
The Division Bench before whom the appeal was posted felt that an important question was involved and therefore referred the appeal to a larger bench
The full Bench considered the matter in detail and held that the order declaring the area to be surplus passed before 1st November 1966 would continue to have effect after that date even if that order had not been implemented and persons owning land in the newly created States is not in law entitled for a separate allotment under the Act
It is this conclusion of the Full Bench that is assailed before us on the strength of a certificate issued by the Court Balwant Singh had more than the permissible area viz 50 standard acres with him
The excess area was liable to be declared as surplus
Surplus area was declared by the Spe cial Collector by his 696 order dated November 8 1960
It was confirmed in appeal and in revision
The revisional order is dated 19th February 1965 that is before 1st November 1966 when the Re organi sation Act came into force
As indicated above by virtue of the Re organisation of the two States a part of his hold ings fell in the territory of the State of Haryana and another part in the State of Punjab
He evolved a contention that he could have 50 standard acres of land in each of the two States
On this basis he questioned the order dated 8th November 1960
He supported this argument with the addi tional plea that the said order had not been implemented and the land declared surplus not utilised
The question that fell to be decided by the full Bench was whether the order which had become final would continue to have effect after the date of enforcement of the Re organisation Act when that order had not been given effect to and the surplus area had not been utilized by the Govern ment
Under the Scheme of the Act it is the entire holding of a person on 15th April 1953 that is to be taken into consideration for
determining his surplus area
The Govern ment acquires the right to utilize the surplus area of a person against whom an order of declaration has been made for the resettlement of tenants ejected or to be ejected
Sections 91i and 10Aa which read as follows make the position clear 91
Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force no land owner shall be competent to eject a tenant except when such tenant i is a tenant on the area reserved under this Act or is a tenant of a small land owner or    10Aa The State Government or any officer empowered by it in this behalf shall be competent to utilise any surplus area for the re settlement of tenants ejected or to be ejected under clause i of sub section  1  of Section 9
 It was contended before the High Court and repeated before us that the order did not get finality unless the surplus area had in fact been utilised and tenants re settled there
This contention did not find 697 favour with the High Court
We will presently examine wheth er the contention has any merit
It is true that along with the order declaring the land of an owner as surplus a corresponding right  duty accrues to the Government to utilise the surplus area for the re settlement of tenants
In other words the rights on the land declared as surplus get vested in the Government to be distributed amongst the tenants for re settlement
This is an indefeasible right that the Government secures
The appellant is not well rounded in his contention that he could get back the land if the surplus had not been utilised
There is nothing in the Act which imposes any time limit for the Government to utilise the land for the purpose mentioned in the Act
Nor is there any provision enabling the owner of the land to claim back the land and to get it restored to him if utili zation is not made by the Government within a specified period
All that the Act contains by way of exception is what is seen in Section 10Ab
If at the time of the com mencement of the Act the land is acquired by the Government under the relevant acquisition laws or when it is a case of inheritance the owner could claim exclusion of such land from his land for fixation of his ceiling under the Act
The second exception itself is further lettered by the provision in Section 10 B that where succession had opened after the surplus area or any part thereof had been utilised under Section 10Aa the saving specified in favour of an heir by inheritance would not apply in respect of the area so uti lised
To put it short the Government had under the Act an unfettered right without time limit to utilise the land for re settlement of tenants subject to the two exceptions mentioned above
It is of course desirable that re settle ment should be done as expeditiously as possible
Inaction on the part of the Government to re settle the tenants will not clothe the owner with a power for restoration of the land
The contention of the appellant based on non utilisa tion of the land has therefore to fail
The second question is whether the appellant is entitled to have the best of the two worlds in other words to have his quota of full 50 acres in Punjab and another 50 acres in Haryana
Section 88 of the Re organisation Act makes the position clear
It reads as follows The provisions of Part II shall not be deemed to have effected any change in the territories to which any law in force immediately before the appointed day extends or applies and territorial references in any such law to the State of Punjab shall until otherwise provid ed by a competent Legislature or other compe tent authority be construed as meaning the territories within that State 698 immediately before the appointed day
 As per this Section the provisions of the Act which was applicable to the old State of Punjab would continue to apply to the new State
In other words the order passed before 1st November 1966 which became final declaring the surplus area would be given effect to and the order would be implemented uninfluenced by the division of the State
After the Re organisation Act the Governer of Haryana in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 89 of the Re organisation Act passed an order by name Haryana Adaptation of Laws States and Concurrent Subjects Order 1968 on 23 10 1968 making it to take effect retrospectively from 1st November 1966
Clauses 10 and 11 of the order read as follows 10
The provisions of this order which adapt or modify any law so as to alter the manner in which the authority by which or the law under or in accordance with which any powers are exercisable shall not render invalid any notification order licence permission award commitment attachment by law
Rule or regulation duly made or issued or anything duly done before the appointed day and any such notification order licence permission award commitment attachment bye law rule regulation or thing may be revoked varied or undone in likemanner to the like extent and in the like circumstances as if it has been made issued or done after the commencement of this order by the competent authority and under and in accordance with the provisions then applicable to such a case
Nothing in this Order shall affect the previous operation of or anything duly done or suffered under any existing State law or any right privilege obligation or liability already acquired accrued or incurred under any such law or any penalty forfeiture or punishment incurred in respect of any offence already committed against any such law
 A combined reading of these two clauses makes it clear that any order made or anything done or any liability in curred or a right accrued before the 1st November 1966 would not be affected by the coming into force of the order
These two clauses show unambiguously that the respective State Governments would be entitled to give effect 699 to orders passed before 1st November 1966 declaring the surplus area by utilising them for the re settlement of the tenants despite the reorganisation of the State of Punjab
The orders passed will be respected by both the States
The fact that the land belonging to a particular owner under fortuitous circumstances fall in the two newly formed States will not in any way affect the operation of the orders which had become final prior to 1st November 1966
To accept the appellant s contention would create anomalies
Persons against whom proceedings under the Act were taken and became final prior to 1st November 1966 would be entitled to claim lands in both the States while those whose petitions are pending on the date the States Reorganisation Act came into force would be in a disadvantageous position
This is not the object of the Act
Nor the scheme behind it
The States re organisation was a historical accident
The land owners cannot take advantage of this accident to the detriment of ejected tenants or tenants in need of re set tlement
For the above reasons we hold that the High Court was justified in answering the question referred to it against the appellant
The appeal is accordingly dismissed
There will be no order as to costs
SR Appeal dis missed


Summary:
Balwant Singh was a displaced person from West Pakistan
He owned in all 67 standard acres of land distributed in various villages
On 8111960 when proceedings under the Punjab Security of Land Tenures Act 1930 were initiated the Special Collector Punjab declared 29 standard acres belonging to him as surplus area
While doing so the trans fers made by him were ignored
He had an option to choose the property which fell to his share
He opted for the entire land belonging to him and situated in village Semani as his permissible area and did not opt for any area in Mohamad Pera District Ferozepure
The Special Collector reserved for him about 18 standard acres out of his holding in village Dhav Kharial in order to make up his permissible area of 50 standard acres
This part of the order of the Special Collector became final
On 1111966 the came into force and as a result thereof the original properties that belonged to Balwant Singh fell within the new State of Punjab and the new State of Haryana
In December 1966 Balwant Sigh his wife and his minor son filed a writ peti tion for the issuance of necessary directions to the States of Punjab and Haryana restraining them from utillsing the surplus area declared by the Special Collector by his order dated 8111960
A learned Single Judge repelled all the following three contentions 1 that after the States Reorganisation persons owning lands both in the State of Punjab and Haryana could claim that they should be allowed 692 permissible area in both the States separately 2 that orders passed regarding surplus area prior to 1st November 1966 and which area had not been utilised till then should be deemed to have no effect and 3 that the proceedings declaring surplus land were bad for want of notice to the transferees
When the matter was taken up in appeal the Division Bench felt that an important question was involved and therefore referred the appeal to a Full Bench
The Full Bench considered the matter in detail and held that the order declaring the area to be surplus passed before Ist November 1966 would continue to have effect after that date even if that order had not been implemented and per sons owning land in the newly created States is not in law entitled for a separate allotment under the Act
Hence the appeal by certificate
Dismissing the appeal the Court HELD 11 Under the scheme of the Punjab Security of Land Tenure Act 1930 It is the entire holding of a person on 15th April 1953 that is to be taken into consideration for determining his surplus area
The Government acquires the right to utilize the surplus area of a person against whom an order of declaration has been made for the resettle ment of tenants ejected or to be ejected
696D E 12 It is true that alongwith the order declaring the land of an owner as surplus a corresponding right and duty accrues to the Government to utilise the surplus area for the re settlement of tenants
In other words the rights on the land declared as surplus get vested in the Government to be distributed amongst the tenants for re settlement
This is an indefeasible right that the Government secures
There fore the appellant cannot get back the land if the surplus land had not been utilised
697A C 13 There is nothing in the Act which imposes any time limit for the government to utilise the land for the purpose mentioned in the Act
Nor is there any provision enabling the owner of the land to claim back the land and to get it restored to him if utilization is not made by the government within a specified period
All that the Act contains by way of exception is what is seen in section 10Ab
If at the time of the commencement of the Act the land is acquired by the government under the relevant acquisition laws or when it is a case of inheritance the owner could claim exclusion of such land from his land for fixation of his ceiling under the Act
The second exception itself is further lettered 693 by the provision in section lOB that where succession had opened after the surplus area or any part thereof had been utilised under section 10Aa the saving specified in favour of an heir by inheritance would not apply in respect of the area so utilised
To put it short the government had under the Act an unfettered right without time limit to utilise the land for re settlement of tenants subject to the two exceptions
Though it is desirable that re settlement should be done as expeditiously as possible inaction on the part of the government to resettle the tenants will not clothe the owner with a power for restoration of the land
697B F 21 The appellant is not entitled to have the best of the two worlds in other words to have his quota of full 50 acres in Punjab and another 50 acres in Haryana this is so because Section 88 of the makes the provisions of the Act which was applicable to the old State of Punjab would continue to apply to the new State
In other words the order passed before 1111966 which became final declaring the surplus area would be given effect to and the order would be implemented uninflu enced by the division of the State
697F G 698B 22 A combined reading of clauses 10 and 11 of the Haryana Adaptation of Laws States and Concurrent Subjects Order 1968 also makes it clear that any order made or anything done or any liability incurred or a right accrued before the 1st November 1966 would not be affected by the coming into force of the order
698G H 23 Clauses 10 and 11 show unambiguously that the re spective State Governments would be entitled to give effect to orders passed before 1st November 1966 declaring the surplus area by utilising them for the re settlement of the tenants despite the re organisation of the State of Punjab
The orders passed will be respected by both the States
The fact that the land belonging to a particular owner under fortuitous circumstances fail in the two newly formed States will not in any way affect the operation of the orders which had become final prior to 1st November 1966
To accept the appellant s contention would create anomalies
Persons against whom proceedings under the Act were taken and became final prior to 1st November 1966 would be entitled to claim lands in both the States wile those whose petitions are pending on the date the States Re organisation Act came into force would be in a disadvantageous position
This is not the object of the Act
Nor the scheme behind it
The States re organisation was a historical accident
The land owners cannot take advantage of this accident to the detriment of ejected tenants or tenants in need of re set tlement
698H 699A C 694