Summarize the following court judgment. 230 239	 241	 249 251	 256	 257	 290	 303	 306 349	 351	 352	 355 357 of 1955 and Nos. 33 & 36 of 1956. Petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution of India. 480 Achhru Ram and Naunit Lal	 for the petitioners in Petitions Nos. 239	 241 & 251 of 1955. Naunit Lal	 for the petitioners in Petitions Nos. 249 & 250 of 1955. B.D. Sharma and K. L. Mehta	 for the petitioners in Petitions Nos. 290	 303	 306 349	 351	 355 357 of 1955 and 36 of 1956. B. D. Sharma	 for the petitioner in Petition No. 33 of 1956. K. L. Mehta	 for the petitioner in Petition No. 352 of 1955. I. N. Shroff	 for the petitioners in Petitions Nos. 230 238	 256 257 of 1955. H. N. Sanyal	 Additional Solicitor General of India	 M. N. Kaul and T. M. Sen	 for the respondents. November 14. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by WANCHOO	 J. These sixty nine petitions under article 32 of the Constitution by various land owners in the former State of Ajmer attack the validity of the Ajmer Abolition of Intermediaries and Land Reforms Act	 1955 (Ajmer III of 1955) (hereinafter called the Act). The petitions disclose a large number of grounds on which the validity of the Act is impugned; but learned counsel	 Mr. Achhru Ram and Mr. B. D. Sharma	 appearing for various petitioners	 have confined their arguments only to certain grounds raised in the peti tions. We propose	 therefore	 to consider only the grounds urged before us. The Act was passed by the Ajmer Legislative Assembly and received the assent of the President on May 29	 1955. Section 4 of the Act provided for vesting of all estates held by intermediaries	 as defined in the Act	 in the State Government from a date to be notified. The Act came into force on June 23	 1955	 and August 1	 1955	 was notified as the date on which the estates held by intermediaries would vest in the State Government. The present petitions followed on the fixing of this date. It is not disputed that the Act is protected under article 31 A(l)(a) of the Constitution inasmuch as it is a 481 piece of legislation for acquisition by the State of any estate or of any rights therein. The argument is that in spite of this protection	 either the whole Act or certain provisions of it are invalid	 for reasons urged by learned counsel on behalf of the petitioners. Mr. Achhru Ram attacks only sections 8 and 38 of the Act. Mr. Sharma attacks the competency of the Ajmer legislature to pass the Act and also urges that in any case it does not apply to the case of jagirdars	 one of whom is a petitioner before us in Petition No. 33 of 1956. These four are the only grounds that have been urged before us	 and we shall deal with them seriatim. Re. section 8. Section 8 is in these terms " Where an intermediary has on or after the 1st day of June	 1950	 (a) granted a lease of any land in the estate or any part thereof for any non agricultural purposes other than mining for a period of three years or more; or (b) granted a lease or 'entered into a contract relating to any forest	 fishery or quarry in his estate for a period of three years or more ; Or (c)granted a lease for the cultivation of any area of bir or pasture or waste land ; and the Collector is satisfied that such lease or contract was not made or entered into in the normal course of management but in anticipation of legislation for the Abolition of Intermediaries	 the Collector may	 subject to any rules made under this Act	 by order in writing	 cancel the lease or the contract as the case may be." It provides for cancellation of certain leases granted on or after June 1	 1950	 where the lease is for a period of three years or more with respect to matters dealt with in cls. (a) and (b) and where the lease is for any period in respect of matters dealt with in cl. The Collector has been given the power to cancel such leases if they are not	 made in the normal course of management but in " anticipation of legislation for abolition of intermediaries. The argument is that 61 482 there can be no retrospective cancellation of leases granted at a time when the land owner had a right to dispose of his property as he liked under article 19(1)(f) and there was no restriction on such right. It is said that in certain contingencies the cancellation of a lease might expose the land owner to the risk of paying compensation to the lessee	 particularly in cases where the land owner might have realised the entire lease money in one lump sum for a lease of more than three years ' duration. We are of opinion that there is no force in this contention. The legislature was certainly competent	 under entry 18 of List 11 of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution relating to Land	 to make this provision. It cannot be disputed that the legislature has power in appropriate cases to pass even retrospective legislation. Provisions for cancellation of instruments already executed are not unknown to law; for example	 the Insolvency Acts provide for setting aside transfers made by insolvents under certain circumstances. Therefore	 the Ajmer Legislature certainly had the power to enact such a provision	 and in the circumstances in which this provision has been made in the Act	 it cannot be said that it is not protected under article 31 A. The provision is not an independent provision; it is merely ancillary in character enacted for carrying out the objects of the Act more effectively. The intention of the legislature was to give power to the Collector after the estates vested in the State Government to scrutinise leases of this kind made after June 1	 1950	 which was apparently the date from which such legislation was under contemplation and to see whether the leases were such as a prudent land owner would enter into in the normal course of management. Such leases would be immune from cancellation ; but if the Collector found that the leases were entered into	 not in the normal course of management but designedly to make whatever the land owners could before the estate came to be transferred to the State Government	 he 'Was given the power to cancel the same	 as they would obviously be a fraud upon the Act. Such	 cancellation would subserve the purposes of the Act	 and 483 the provision for it would therefore be an integral part of the Act	 though ancillary to its main object	 and would thus be protected under article 31 A (1)(a) of the Constitution. Re. section 38. Section 38 reads as follows Notwithstanding any agreement	 usage	 decree or order of a court or any law for the time being in force	 the maximum rent payable by a tenant in respect of the land leased to him shall not exceed one and half times the revenue payable in respect of such land. " This section provides for fixing the maximum rent at fifty per cent. above the land revenue	 and it is urged that this is an unreasonable restriction on the right of the land owner to let his holding. The object of this legislation is to do away with intermediaries	 and for that reason the estates held by intermediaries have been ' made to vest in the State Government tinder section 4. Chapter VI of the Act	 however	 provides for allotment of lands for personal cultivation to intermediaries whose estates have been taken over upto a certain limit and the intermediaries who have been allotted lands under section 29 of the Act are called Bhuswamis or Kashtkars according to the nature of the lands allotted to them; (see section 30). Bhuswamis and Kashtkars hold land directly from the Government and pay revenue to the Government; (see section 32). The intention of the Act	 therefore	 is that intermediaries who have been allotted lands should cultivate them personally. But section 37 permits Bhuswamis to let the whole or any part of the land allotted to them	 while Kashtkars are forbidden from letting any part of their land except in certain circumstances when they are suffering from some disability. In order	 however	 that the main object of the Act (namely	 that the land should be cultivated by the person to whom it is allotted and that there should be no rackrenting) is attained	 section 38 has been provided fixing the maximum rent at 50 per cent. above the land revenue. Thus the profit which a Bhuswami 484 can make by letting his land is so reduced compared to what he would earn if he cultivated it himself as to discourage him from letting the land and becoming a. new kind of intermediary. Section 38	 therefore	 is another ancillary section	 like section 8	 and is meant to subserve the purposes of the Act	 namely	 the abolition of all intermediaries and encouragement of self cultivation of the land. We are	 therefore	 of opinion that section 38 is also protected under article 31 A(l)(a) of the Constitution as an ancillary provision necessary for the purposes of carrying out the objects of the Act. The competency of the Ajmer Legislation. The argument in this behalf is put in this way. The Act is a piece of legislation for the acquisition of estates. Before the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act	 1956	 came into force on November 1	 1956	 there were two entries relating to acquisition of property in the Seventh Schedule	 namely	 entry 33 of List 1 (acquisition or requisitioning of property for the purpose of the Union) and entry 36 of List II(acquisition or requisitioning of property	 except for the purposes of the Union	 subject to the provisions of entry 42 of List 111). The argument continues that the Act was passed by the Ajmer legislature under the power it was supposed to have under entry 36 of List 11 read with section 21 of the Government of part C States Act	 1951 (XLIX of 1951). But entry 36 of List 11 only gives power to the State legislature to acquire property for purposes other than the purposes of the Union. As	 however	 the property aquired under the Act vested in the President and therefore the Union after its acquisition	 the Act was really for the acquisition of property for the purposes of the Union and could not have been passed by the Ajmer legislature. In support of this argument Mr. Sharma referred us to various Articles of the Constitution in Part XII thereof relating to Finance	 Property	 Contracts and Suits	 and also articles 73 and 239. He contends that these provisions show that before the Government of Part C States Act was passed	 the legislative power with respect to the areas comprised in Part C States 485 was in the Union which also through the President had executive power over the subjects over which the Parliament could legislate with respect to what were Part C States. After the passing of the Government of Part C States Act	 by virtue of the power conferred on Parliament by article 240	 there was no change so far as the executive power in Part C States was concerned and it is still vested in the President. Any property acquired for the purposes of Part C States vests in the President or the Union. Therefore	 according to him	 the Ajmer legislature would have no power to enact a law for acquiring estates under entry 36 of	 List 11; for the property so acquired would really be for the purposes of the Union and no law under that	 entry could be made for acquiring property for the purposes of the Union. We are of opinion that the argument	 though plausible	 must be rejected. Assuming	 without deciding. that even after the passing of the Government of. Part C States Act	 any property acquired for a Part C State vested in the Union Government by virtue of the provisions of Part XII of the Constitution	 the question still remains whether the Ajmer legislature could make a law under entry 36 of List II acquiring estates even though the estates when acquired may legally vest in the Union Government. Now	 entry 33 of List I refers to acquiring of property for the purposes of the Union. It does not lay down in whom the property should vest after it has been acquired. Similarly	 entry 36 of List 11 speaks of acquisition of property	 except for the purposes of the Union	 and makes no mention in whom the property should vest after it has been acquired. Entry 42 of List II which deals with compensation for such acquisition as well as for acquisition for any other public purpose	 also does not speak where the property should vest after acquisition. It is not necessary	 therefore	 to consider where the property should vest after acquisition in deciding the ambit of the competence of the legislature under those two entries. The key to the interpretation of these two entries is not in whom the property would vest after it has been acquired 'but whether the 486 property is being acquired for the purposes of the Union in one case or for purposes other than the purposes of the Union in the other. It is in this context that the competency of the Ajmer legislature to enact this law under entry 36 of List 11 is to be judged. Section 21 of the Government of Part C States Act created a Legislative Assembly for Ajmer and gave that legislative assembly power to make laws for the whole or any part of the State with respect to any of the matters enumerated in List II or List III of the seventh Schedule to the Constitution. Ajmer legislature was thus given power to pass laws with respect to acquisition of property for purposes other than those of the Union. In other words	 it bad the power to make law to acquire property for the purposes of the State of Ajmer or for any other public purpose. The question then is whether the Act was passed acquiring estates in the State of Ajmer for the purposes of the State of Active of where the title may vest. The answer to this question to our mind can only be one; the Act was passed by the State legislature for acquiring estates within the State and it could only have been for the purposes of the State. There is no reason to limit the meaning of these general words	 namely	 'the purposes of the State '	 by importing in them the idea of where the property would vest after its acquisition. That the purposes for which the estates were acquired were purposes of the State of Ajmer would be quite clear from the fact that now that the State of Ajmer is part of the State of Rajasthan	 the estates acquired under the Act have gone to Rajasthan and have not been kept by the Union on the ground that the title vested in the Union. Therefore	 as the estates were acquired in this case for the purposes of the State of Ajmer the Act would be within the competency of the Ajmer legislature as it falls within the plain words of entry 36 of List 11. Jagirdars. The contention on behalf of the petitioner in petition No. 33 of 1956 is that under the Act the word intermediary includes a jagirdar. The Act also provides that the definitions in the Ajmer Tenancy and Land 487 Records Act	 1950 (Ajmer XLII of 1950)	 will be imported where the words used in it are not defined. The word I jagirdar is defined in the Ajmer Tenancy and Land Records Act as a person to whom the revenue of any land has been assigned under a sanad issued by the Chief Commissioner before the commencement of the Ajmer Land and Revenue Regulation	 l877 ; (see section 2 (15) ). It is not in dispute that a sanad was issued to a predecessor of the petitioner before 1877 ; but it is urged that a jagirdar is merely the assignee of land revenue and so far as that assignment is concerned it may be said to have been acquired under the Act. But the petitioner besides being an assignee of land revenue is also owner of land and that interest of his has not been acquired under the Act. We are of opinion that there is no force in this argument. The word I estate ' is defined in section 2(v) of the Act as having the same meaning as assigned to it in the Ajmer Land and Revenue Regulation	 1877. The Ajmer Regulation does not define the word 'estate ' as such	 but it has defined the word ' Malguzar ' as a person liable under section 64 for payment of the revenue assessed upon an estate	 under section 2(d). Further	 section 64 provides that all persons who are bound by the agreement prescribed by section 61 and their successors ininterest shall	 while they continue to be owners of land in the Estate to which such agreement relates	 be jointly and severally liable for the payment of the whole amount of revenue assessed upon such estate. The Ajmer Regulation also defines particular types of estates like ' Istimrari Estate ' and 'Bhum ' but the general meaning of the word 'estate ' under the Ajmer Regulation is an area of land separately assessed to revenue	 which is payable by the holder of the estate. I Intermediary ' as defined in section 2 (viii) of the Act is a holder of an estate and includes a jagirdar. Under section 4 all the estates held by intermediaries Vest in the State Government on the issue of a notification. Therefore	 if the jagirdars are intermediaries	 that is holders of estates	 their estates will vest in the State Government under section 4 of the Act. The distinction which the learned counsel for this petitioner draws between the 488 interest of the jagirdar as jagirdar and as land owner is in our opinion wholly unfounded. A perusal of annexures B	 C and D	 filed by the. petitioner himself	 would make this clear. Anexures B and C are sanads with respect to the jagirs held by the petitioner. Entry in the remarks column of annexure IS begins with the words " Grant of this estate lasts. ". Similarly	 in annexure C the opening words in the remarks column are " The Grant is to the Dudhadhari for the time being. No part of the estate is transferable by sale or mortgage. ". Therefore	 the grants themselves designated these jagirs as estates. They were assessed to revenue	 which was	 however	 remitted and the estates thus came to be known as revenue free jagirs and the estate holder was designated as jagirdar. It was because of this remission of the land revenue that the word I jagirdar ' was defined in the Ajmer Tenancy and Land Records Act	 1950	 as assignee of land revenue. Annexures B and C also show that when the grants were made before 1877 a large part of the area covered by the grant was uncultivated. Annexure D shows that disputes arose between the jagirdars and the Biswedars in these jagirs about these uncultivated lands	 and one such dispute was decided as late as 1954. In that judgment (annexure D) history of jagir tenure was traced and it was held that the jagirdar was the owner of uncultivated land in his jagir and not the Biswedar. Therefore	 the distinction which has been drawn by the learned counsel between the jagirdar as an assignee of land revenue based on the definition in the Ajmer Tenancy and Land Records Act	 1950	 and the same person as the land owner is unfounded. It appears that though the jagirdar may have been defined as assignee of land revenue because of the peculiar fact that in the case of a jagirdar there had been remission of land revenue by sanads granted before 1877	 he was the proprietor of his jagir and the grantee of the estate given to him as jagir There is no question	 therefore	 of separating the interest of jagirdar as the assignee of land revenue from	 his interest as the holder of jagir estate by virtue of a grant before 1877. The petitioner therefore in petition 489 No. 33 of 1956 is the holder of the jagir estate and therefore his entire interest in the estate is liable to resumption under the Act. In the Ajmer Regulations	 (Vol. H to L) at pp. 564 6	 these two estates have been considered and their history is given	 and they are called jagirs. The history of jagirs in Rajasthan was considered by this Court in Thakur Amarsinghji vs State of Rajasthan (1)	 at p. 330 onwards	 and the word I jagir ' was hold to connote all grants which conferred on the grantees rights in respect of land revenue. In the case of these two jagirs also	 as annexures B and C show	 land revenue was remitted and they were granted as estates for particular purposes. They are	 therefore	 clearly estates in view of the origin of the title of the holder of these estates who is called a jagirdar and therefore the State could take them over under section 4 of the Act. There is no force in any of the points raised on behalf of the petitioners	 and the petitions fail and are hereby dismissed with one set of costs to the contesting respondent. Petitions dismissed.

Section 4 Of the Ajmer Abolition of Intermediaries and Land Reforms Act	 955	 provided for vesting of all estates held by intermediaries	 as defined in the Act	 in the State from a date to be notified	 and the petitioners who were affected thereby filed petitions under article 32 Of the Constitution of India challenging the validity of the Act and	 in particular sections 8 and 38 of the Act on the grounds that (1) entry 36 of List 11 of the 479 Seventh Schedule to the Constitution gave power to the State legislature to acquire property for purposes other than the purposes of the Union	 while the property acquired under the Act vested in the President and therefore the Union after its acquisition	 and the Act was really for the acquisition of property for the purposes of the Union and could not have been passed by the	 Ajmer legislature	 (2) section 8 provided for retrospective cancellation of leases granted at a time when the land owner had a right to dispose of his property as he liked under article 19(1)(f) of the Constitution and there was no restriction on such right	 and (3) section 38 which fixed a maximum rent was an unreasonable.restriction on the right of the land owner to let his holding. It was also contended for some of the petitioners who were assignees of land revenue as also owners of land that	 under the Act	 an intermediary included a jagir and that as a jagirdar was merely an assignee of land revenue	 only that assignment could be said to have been acquired under the Act. Held	 (1) that the purposes for which the estates were acquired were purposes of the State of Ajmer and	 consequently	 the Act was within the competency of the Ajmer legislature as it fell within entry 36 of List II of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution	 and it was not necessary to consider where the property should vest after acquisition in deciding the ambit of the competence of the legislature under the entry ; (2) that the provisions in section 8 of the Act which gave power to the Collector to cancel leases which were found to have been made in anticipation of legislation for abolition of intermediaries and which were	 consequently	 a fraud upon the Act	 subserve the purposes of the Act and would	 therefore	 be an integral part of the Act	 though ancillary to its main object	 and were protected under article 31 A(1)(a) of the Constitution ; (3)that the intention of the Act was that the intermediaries who were allotted lands should cultivate them personally and the object of section 38 was to discourage them from letting the land and becoming a new kind of intermediaries	 and	 consequently	 the section being an ancillary provision necessary for the purposes of carrying out the objects of the Act	 was protected under article 31 A(1)(a) of the Constitution; and (4)that in view of the origin of the title of the holders of these estates who were called jagirdars	 a distinction could not be made between jagirdars as assignees of land revenue and the same persons as land owners	 and therefore	 the State could take over the entire interest in the estate under section 4 Of the Act.