Counsel for the petitioners contends, (1) that the persons summoned by the Lieutenant Governor by his notification dated July 7, 1954, could not constitute a Legislature of the new State as those persons were not elected or nominated in the manner prescribed by article 240 of the Constitution; and the Parliament could Dot by law validate acts and proceedings of that body which had no authority to legislate, (2) the Parliament in enacting the Validating 760 Act had no authority retrospectively to form a Legislative Assembly in violation of the terms of article 240 of the Constitution especially when the new State of Himachal Pradesh which was formed under Act 32 of 1954 had ceased to exist at the date when the Abolition Act was enacted, and (3) even if the Validating Act is not open to challenge, the Abolition Act contravened article 31 of the Constitution and is therefore void as infringing the fundamental rights of the petitioners under article 19 and article 31 of the Constitution.