Case: Mohd. Faisuddin Khan Vs. Govt. Of India &amp; Ors

1. This appeal by certificate is directed against the judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dated July 19, 1968. It is not in dispute that appellant Mohd. Faisuddin Khan is a citizen of India, and was declared an evacuee by an order of the Deputy Custodian of Evacuee Property, Hyderabad, dated September 18, 1951. His property, consisting of a building and 350 acres of land, was declared to be evacuee property. The Custodian of Evacuee Property issued a notice to the appellant on April 5, 1961 calling upon him to surrender possession of the property. That was followed by a notification dated January 20, 1962, of the Central Government, under s. 12 of the Displaced Per sons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, 1954, hereinafter referred to as the Act, by which that government acquired all properties which had been declared to be evacuee properties, for a purpose connected with the relief and rehailitation of displaced persons, including payment of compensation. The appellant, challenged the aforesaid notification as unconstitutional and applied for writ of certiorarai on a proper construction of ss.12 and 15 of the Act. In its impugn ed judgment, the High Court has taken the view that on publication of the notification under s. 12(1) of the Act, the right, title and interest of the evacuee was extinguished in the evacuee property and it vested absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances. That, in the view of the High Court, was unconditional, and was not made to depend upon the fixation or payment of compensation under section 13, notwithstanding the fact that the principles for payment of compensation had not been agreed upon between the Governments of India and Pakistan and had not therefore been fixed. It has also been held that the words "or otherwise" in article 31(5) (b) (iii) of the Constitution are sufficiently wide and the protection of the article extends to the relevant provisions of the Act so that there could be no successful challenge on the basis of article 31(2). The evacuee feels aggrieved and has filed the present appeal

Court's reasoning:
3. It would thus appear that clause (2) of article 31 will not avail the appellant because there is an express provision in clause (5) that it shall not affect the provisions of any law which the State Government may make either in pursuance of an agreement with the Government of any other country "or otherwise". So even in the absence of an agreement with the Government of Pakistan, it was permissible for the State to make the Act, and its provisions would not be affected by anything contained in clause (2) of article 31 of the Constitution. It would follow that there is nothing wrong with the view that compensation would have been payable to the appellant under sec. 13 of the Act, in accordance with such Principles and in such manner as might have been agreed upon between the Governments of India and Pakistan, but not otherwise. The appellant is therefore not entitled to claim such compensation in the absence of the agreement, and there is nothing wrong with the conclusion arrived at by the High Court in the impugnedargument is however quite futile in face of the clear provision of(2) of section 12 of the Act that on the publication of the notification under(1), the right, title and interest of the evacuee shall be extinguished in the evacuee property and it "shall vest absolutely in the Central Government free from all encumbrances." There is thus no force in this appeal