Case: S. M. Nandy &amp; Ors Vs. State Of West Bengal &amp; Ors

2. On October 9, 1960, and October 10, 1960, the Collector of Hooghly made two orders under Section 3(1) ofthe West Bengal Land (Requisition and Acquisition) Act, 1948 - hereinafter referred to as the Acquisition Act. The Collector purported to requisition land belonging to the appellants for certain public purposes. He had issued the orders in exercise of the powers which had been conferred upon him by notification No. 3775-L. A., dated May 11, 1948, published in the Calcutta Gazette, Part I, on May 27, 1948. This notification had authorised the Collector to exercise the powers under Section 3(1) of the Acquisition Act. When this notification was passed Chandernagore, where the requisitioned land is situate, was not part of West Bengal and it is on this fact that one argument, shortly to be mentioned, rests.

Court's reasoning:
In 1954 it was provided that it shall remain in force up to March 31, 1957. We are unable to appreciate how the word "generally" has any reference to the duration of the time during which an act has to operate. We agree with the High Court that the word "generally" refers to the territory of West BengalWe agree with the High Court that there is no force in this contention. If by virtue of Section 3 of the Assimilation of Laws Act an Act becomes applicable to Chandernagore al privileges and immunities in conflict with that Act would cease to exist12. Coming to the second point, we urge with the High Court that the Collector of Hooghly had the authority to issue the orders of requisition in question. If the order of requisition is by a Collector then the notification of 1948 applies and the Collector of Hooghly would be authorised to issue orders requisitioning in respect of land existing in Chandernagore because Chandernagore had come within the limits of his jurisdiction. The Notification must be construed to refer to the limits of the District as it exist on the date of the exercise of the powers conferred by the notification. If the orders of requisition were issued by Shri B. K. Chatterjee, I.A.S, Additional District Magistrate, then he had authority by virtue of the notification, dated September 15, 1959, mentioned above13. The learned counsel, referring to the Acquisition Act, as it stood in 1959, and the definition of "Collector" ("the Collector of a district and include a Deputy Commissioner and any officer specially appointed by the State Government to perform the functions of a Collector under this Act") urged that the Additional District Magistrate was not "specially appointed". There is no force in this point. The notification of September 15, 1959, amounts to special appointment within the definition of "Collector"8. Regarding the first point, it seems to us that there is no force in the contentions. Section 3 of the Chandernagore (Meger) Act, 1954. Made Chandernagore part of the State of West Bengal and Section 17 extended the Acquisition Act to it.. The Acquisition Act was a law within the meaning of law contained in Section 2(c) of the Chandernagore (Assimilation of Laws) Act because it related to a matter enumerated in List II in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. List II, as it then existed contained the following entries :"36. Acquisition or requisitining of property, except for the purposes of the Union, subject to the provisions of entry 42 of List III."Entry 42 of List III was to the following effect :"Principles on which compensation for property acquired or requisitioned for the purpose of the Union or of a State or for any other pubic purpose is to be determined, and the form and the manner in which compensation is to be given."Insofar as the Acquisition Act related to Entry 42 of List III it was applied by Section 3 ofthe Chandernagore (Assimilation of Laws) Act, 1955, and Section 17 of the Chandernagore (Meger) Act, 1954, read with the definition of the word "law" in Section 2(d) of the latter Act.