'I 2 S.C.R. one a part of the other. Two independent institutions legally cannot, Lxcept in the manner known to law, be amalgamated into one institution by developing merely sentimental attachment between them. This
argument was rightly rejected by the learned District Judge, and the High Court went wrong in accepting it. Before we close we must make it, clear that by this judgment we have not in any way intended to express
our view in the matter of honours that are customa.. rily shown to one or other of the parties in these appeals in the temple of Athinathalwar. In the result we hold, agreeing with the District
Judge, that the suits were not maintainable in the civil court. The appeals are, therefore, allowed with costs throughout. Appeals allowed. ROTA VENKATA SURYA SIVARAMA SASTRY v. STATE OF ANDHRA PRADESH
(P. B. GAJENDRAGADKAR, A. IC SARKAR, K. c. DAS GUPTA, N. RAJAGOPALA AYYANGAR and J. R. MUDHOLKAR, JJ.) Abolition of Estates-Enactment providing for State taking over estates by notification-Part of estate outside the operation of enact- ment-Legislation extending its operation-Notifications in respect of estate, each part separately-Legality-Madras Scheduled Areas Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Regulation, 1951 (Regulation 4 of 1951), s. 2-M adras Estates (Abolition and Conver- sion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948 (Madras 26 of 1948), ss. 1(4), 3, 25, The areas in question which were parts of two estates
belonging to the appellants, called Gangole A and Gangole C, were situated in what was known as the Godavari Agency tract which was governed by the Scheduled Districts Act, 1874, By s, 92 of the Government of India Act, 1935, no Act of the Pro- vincial Legislature was applicable to certain areas in which the Godavari Agency was included, unless the Governor by public Sri Sinna
Ramanuja jeer v, Sri Ranga Ramanuja Jeer Subba Rao ], April z8. r961 Sivaran1a Sastry v. State of Andhra I'radesh [1962] notification so directed. The Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, was enacted in 1948, and on August 15, 1950, the Government of Madras issued a notifi- cation under s. 1(4) of the Act by which, among other estates, Gangole A and Gangole C in their entirety were purported to be taken over, specifying September 7, 1950, as the date on which the vesting was to take place. But as no action as contemplated bys. 92 of the Government of India Act, 1935, had been taken to render the Madras Act of 1948 applicable to the Godavari Agency tract, only ports of the Gangole estates were within the operation of that Act, while there were portions of the estates which were outside its purview and operation. When this legal situation was noticed another notification was i>Sued on Septem- ber 5, 1950, by which the areas in question were excluded from the SCOJ>e of the notification dated August 15, 1950. In exercise of the power under para 5(2) of the Fifth Schedule to the Con- stitution, Madras Regulation IV of 1951 was passed on Septem- ber 8, 1951, by which, inter alia, the Act of 1948 was made applicable to the areas in which the two Gangole estates were situate with retrospective effect from April 19, 1949· On Janua- ry 14, 1953, the Government of Madras issued a notification vesting those portions of the Gangole estates to which the Act of 1948 was extended. The appellants challenged the legality of the notification on the ground that the various provisions of the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) Act, 1948, showed that the Act contemplated the taking over of
estates as a unit and not in parts, while what the Government had done in the present case was to deal with the two estates of Gangole A and Gangole C as if each one of them were really two estates, one that which lay in the G.odavari Agency tract and the other outside that area, and had issued notifications in respect of these units separately.
Held, that the first notification dated August 15, 1950, as modified by that dated September 5, 1950, was valid and effec- tive in law to vest the portion of the estate to which it related in the State Government.
Held further, that the notification dated January 14, 1953, was equally valid. The action taken by the Government in issuing the said notification was in conformity with the scheme of the Act of 1948 that the entirety of the estate should be taken over.
CIVIL APPELJ,ATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeals Nos. 646 and 64 7 of 1960. Appeals by special leave from the judgments and orders dated January 28, 1958, of the Andhra Pradesh High Court in Writ Appeals Nos. 149 and 150 of
1957. A. V. Viswanatha Sastri and T. Satyanarayana, for rr.;6r the appellants. Siva•ama Sastry A. Ranganatham Ohetty, S. V. P. Venkatappayya Sastri and T. M. Sen, for the respondent.
1961. April 28. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by AYYANGAR, J.-These two appeals are by special leave of this Court and arise out of orders of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh dismissing two writ peti-
tions filed before it by the respective appellants in the two appeals. On January 14, 1953, the Government of Madras issued a notification reading, to quote only the mate- rial words, "in exercise of the powers conforred by
s. 1(4) of the Madras Estates (Abolition and Conver- sion into Ryotwari) Act., 1948 (Madras Act XXVI of 1948), read with s. 2 of the Madras Scheduled Areas Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryot1Yari)
Regulation, 1951: "The Governor of Madras hereby appoints tho 4th of February 1953, as the date on which the pro- visions of the said Act ……………… shall come into force in the Estates in the Scheduled Areas of the
West Godavari District which are specified in the schedule below:-" and the schedule set out inter alia: "l. Agency Area of Gangole 'A' Estate, cousisL- ing of ……………………. ..
2 ……………………… . 3. Agency Area of Gangole 'C' Estate, consist- ing of ………………… " It is the legality of this notification that is impugned by the two appellants who are the proprietors respec-
tively of Gangole 'A' and Gangole 'C' estates. The two writ petitions by the appellants which were num- bered respectively 28 and 29 of 1953 were dismissed by the learned Single-Judge of the Andhra High
Court and appeals under the Letters Patent filed against this common judgment were also dismised by the learned Judges of that Court. An application for the grant of a certificate was also dismissed but this
v, State of Andlita Pradesh Ayyangar j. Siva~ama Sastry v State of Andhra Pradesh Ayyangar ], [1962] Court having granted special leave to the appellants, the matter is now before us.
The Madras Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Iiyotwari) Act, 1948, to which we shall refer as the Abolition Act, was a piece of legislation of the State enacted to effect reform in land tenures and land-
holding by the elimination of intermediaries. In line with similar legislation in the rest of the country, the interests of intermediaries-of three categories-the estates of Zamindars, of undertenure-holders and of
Inamdars were enabled to be vested in Government on the publication of a notification to that effect, com- pensation being provided for such taking over. The entire legal difficulties in the case of the Gangole 'A'
and 'C' estates which were admittedly Zamindaris arise out of the fact that a small portion of each of them is situated in what is known as the Godavari Agency tract. This Agency area was originally in-
cluded as part of the Scheduled District of the Madras Presidency under the Scheduled Districts Act XIV of 1874. When the Godavari Agency was governed by the Scheduled Districts Act, 1874, the Madras Legislature
enacted the Madras Estates Land Act (Act 1 of 1908), which was in force from July 1, 1908. This enact- ment regulated the rights of, inter alia, the proprie- tors of zamindari estates and the ryots and tenants
who cultivated the lands included in the estates. Though, some argument was raised in the High Court, disputing the operation of the Estates Land Act to the Godavari Agency tracts, it has not been repeated
before us. That Act on its terms applied to the entire Presidency of Madras and in view of a catena of decisions of the Madras High Court starting from the judgment of Muthuswami Iyer, J. in Ohakrapani v.
Varahalamma ('), on the construction of s. 4 of the Scheduled Districts Act XIV of 1874, the contention was hardly tenable and was therefore properly aban- doned. The position therefore was that the entirety
of the lands and villages forming Gangole 'A' and 'C' were governed by the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, (1) (1894) I.L,R. 18 Mad. n7. and were "estates" within the meaning of that enact-
I96I ment. In this situation the Government of India Act, . — f A .1 l U d Stvarnma Sas"y 1935, came mto orce on pn , 1 n er its v. provisions the Godavari Agency was included in the
state of territory classified as "partially excluded areas" Andhrn Pradesh under s. 91 of the Act. The laws applicable to the "partially excluded areas" and their administration Ayyangar J.
was governed by s. 92 which enacted: "92( 1) The executive authority of a Province ex- tends to excluded and partially excluded areas therein, but, notwithstanding anything in this Act,
no Act of the Federal Legislature or of the Provin- cial Legislature, shall apply to an excluded area or a partially excluded area, unless the Governor by public notification so directs; and the Governor
in giving such direction with respect to any Act may direct that the Act shall in its application to the area, or to any specified part thereof, have effect subject to such exceptions or modifications as he
thinks fit. (2) The Governor may make regulations for the peace and good government of any area in a Pro- vince which is for the time being an excluded area, or a partially excluded area, and any regulations so
made may repeal or amend any Act of the Federal Legislature or of the Provincial Legislature, or any existing Indian law, which is for the time being applicable to the area in question.
Regulations made under this sub-section shall be submitted forthwith to the Governor-General and until assented to by him in his discretion shall have no effect, and the provisions of this Part of this
Act with respect to the power of His Majesty to disallow Acts shall apply in relation to any such regulations assented to by the Governor-General as they apply in relation to Acts of a Provincial Legis-
lature assented to by him. (3) The Governor shall, as respects any area in a Province which is for the time being an excluded area, exercise his functions in his discretion." We shall be pointing out a little later, the inter-
connection between the Estates Land Act, 1908 and Sivarama Saslty v. State of A ndhra Pradesh Ayyangar J [1962) the Abolition Act, but for the present narrative it is sufficient to state that when the Abolition Act was
enacted in 1948, it could not of its own force, apply to the 'partially excluded areas' and no action as con- templated by s. 92 of the Government of India Act, 1935, was taken to render that Act applicable to that
area. The result was that only a part of Gangole 'A' and 'C' were within the operation of the Abolition Act, while there were portions of each of the estates which were outside its purview and operation.
This legal situation was however not noticed and under the wrong impression that the Abolition Act was in operation in the Godavari Agency also, the Government of Madras issued on August 15, 1950, a
notification under s. 1(4) of the Abolition Act by which, among othtir estates, the entirety of Gangole estate 'A' and Gangole estate 'C' were purported to be taken over, and specifying September 7, 1950, as the
date on which the vesting was to take place. Before the latter date, however, the error was noticed and in consequence another notification was issued on the 5th of September by which the villages and hamlets
lying in the "partially excluded areas" of Gangole estate 'A' and Gangole estate 'C' were excluded from the scope of the notification dated August 15,1950. Thereafter the question of the extension of the Aboli-
tion Act to the "partially excluded areas" was taken on hand. By that date, it would be seen, the Consti- tution had come into force and the law applicable to areas like the Godavari Agency was provided for by
Art. 244 read with the Sch. V to the Constitution. Art. 244(1) enacted: "The provisions of the Fifth Schedule shall apply to the administration and control of the Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes in any State other
than the State of Assam." As regards the law applicable to the Scheduled Areas, the relevant provision is that contained in paragraph 5 of that Schedule of which the material portions are:
"5. Law applicable to Scheduled Areas.- (1) Notwithstanding anything in this Constitu- tion, the Governor may by public notification direct that any particular Act of Parliament or of
r96r the Legislature of the State shall not apply to a 5 . S h d I d A h f . h S ivarama Saslry c e u e rea or any part t ereo m t e ta te or v shall apply to a Scheduled Area or any part thereof
Stat; of in the State subject to such exceptions and modifica. Andhra Prndesh tions as he may specify in the notification and any direction given under this sub-paragraph may be Ayya•gar J.
given so as to have retrospective effect. (2) The Governor may make regulations for the peace and good government of any area in a State which is for the time being a Scheduled Area.
(3) In making any such regulation as is referred to in sub-paragraph (2) of this paragraph, the Gover. nor may repeal or amend any Act of Parliament or of the Legislature of the State or any existing law
which is for the time being applicable to the area in question." In exercise of the power under paragraph 5(2) of the Fifth Schedule, Madras Regulation IV of 1951 was passed on September 8, 1951. The territorial extent
of its operation extended to certain areas specified in the Schedule, which included the areas in the Godavari district in which the two Gangole estates were situate and by its operative provisions the Abolition Act
together with the amendments effected to it, were made applicable to these areas with retrospective effect from April 19, 1949. The Abolition Act having thus been extended to that part of the Gangole 'A'
q,nd Gangole 'C' estates which lay within "the Sche- duled area" the Government of Madras issued the impugned notification vesting those portions of the estate to which the Act was extended by Regulation
IV of 1951. As stated earlier, it is the validity of this last notification and the vesting effected there. under of those portions of Gangole 'A' and Gangole 'C' which lay within the Scheduled area that is alone
nhallenged in the appeals before us. The notification was impugned on several grounds, all of which were rejected by the High Court. Several [1962] of them have been put forward before us, though not
–5 all of them with equal emphasis. Before however ivaratna as ry b v. adverting to them 1t might e convement to set out state of the relevant statutory provisions which bear upon the
Andhra Pradesh points urged. The long title of the Abolition Act states: Ayyangar f. "Whereas it is expedient to provide for the repeal of the Permanent Settlement, the acquisition of the
rights of landholders not permanently settled and certain other estates in the Province of Madras ….. . .. .. . …. It is hereby enacted as follows:" Section 1(3) defining the extent of its application runs:
"It applies to all estates as defined in section 3, clause (2), of the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908, except inam villages which became estates by virtue of the Madras Estates Land (Third Amendment)
Act, 1936." Section 2 which is the definition section provides by sub-s. (1): "( 1) All expressions defined in the Estates Land Act shall have the same respective meanings as in that Act with the modifications, if any, made by
this Act." and sub-s. (3) provides: "(3) 'estate' means a zamindari or an under- tenure or an inam estate." and sub-s. (4) of this section defines 'Estates Land Act' to mean "the Madras Estates Land Act, 1908."
Having regard to these provisions it is necessary to refer to the terms of the Estates Land Act to which one is directed by s. 1(2) of the Abolition Act. Section 3 (2) of the Estates Land Act defines "an
estate" as meaning: "3 (2)(a) any permanently-settled estate or temporarily-settled zamindari, (b) any portion of such permanently-settled estate or temporarily-settled zamindari which is
separately registered in the office of the Collector; (c) ……•.••……….. (d) ……….. ·········· (e) ……………… , .. " We shall now proceed to deal with the several
196' points raised, though except one all the others do not s· "d d h b ivarama aslry ment any ser10us cons1 eratron an ave een pro- v. perly rejected by the High Court. The first point
state of urged was that the Polavaram zamindari-the parent Andhra Prad"h estate from which the Gangole estate was, by succes- sive sub.divisions, separated-was not "a perma- Ayyangar J.
nently-settled estate" because the Madras Permanent- Settlement Regulation XXV of 1802 was excluded from its application to Scheduled districts by the Laws Local Extent Act, 1874. In our opinion, the
High Court has rightly rejected this contention, because even if the Madras Permanent-Settlement Regulation did not apply, there could be no dispute that the Polavaram zamindari was "a permanently-
settled estate", because its peishcush was fixed and from the kabuliyat which was executed by the pro- prietor it is clear that it conforms to the pattern of the sanads and kabuliyats issued under the Madras
Permanent-Settlement Regulation. Though before the High Court it was urged that on the issue of the notification on August 15, 1950, under s. 1(4) of the Abolition Act the power of the State
Government was exhausted and that they were there- after incompetent to issue any further notification under the same Act, this contention which entirely lacks substance was not seriously urged.
It was next contended that Regulation IV of 1951 was in valid as having outstepped the limits of the legislation permitted by paragraphs 5(1) and (2) of the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution. It was said that
if the Governor desired to enact a law with retrospec- tive effect it must be a Jaw fashioned by himself, but that if he applied to the Scheduled areas a law already in force in the State, he could not do so with
retrospective effect. Reduced to simple terms, the contention merely amounts to this that the Governor should have repeated in this Regulation the terms of the Abolition Act but that if he referred merely to the
title of the Act he could not give retrospective effect to its provisions over the area to which it was being applied. It is obvious that this contention was correctly negatived by the High Court.
Sivarama Sastry v. State of A ndhra Pradesh Ayyangar ]. [1962] We shall now proceed to deal with the only point put forward by Mr. Viswanatha Sastri which, we have said, merits serious consideration, though it must be
Paid that it was not presented in the same form before the learned Judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh. The argument was as follows: The Madras Estates Land Act of 1908, admittedly applied
to the entire estate of Gangole-including that por- tion of the estate which was in the Scheduled area which, in the phraseology employed by the Govern- ment of India Act, was "a partially excluded area."
Gangole 'A', Gaugole 'B' and Gangole 'C' had been sub- divided and had been separately registered. Each one of them was therefore a unit-each one was itself "an estate" within s. 3(2)(b) of the Estates Land Act,
1908, being "a portion of a permanently-settled estate ………………… which is separately registered in the office of the Collector." The Abolition Act contem- plates the taking over of "estates" as a unit and not
in parts. The entire scheme of the Abolition Act is based upon this principle which would be upset if it were held that the Government in issuing notifications under s. 1(4) of the Abolition Act could take over por-
tions merely of such units. When a notification is issued under s. 1( 4) its legal consequences are set out in s. 3 which reads: "With effect on and from the notified date and save as otherwise expressly provided in this Act
(the saving does not cover anything material for the present purpose)- (a) ……………………………………….. ············ … . (b) the entire estate (including all communal
lands; porambokes; other non-ryoti lands; …………. ) shall stand transferred to the Government and vest in them, free of all encumbrances ………… " The provisions of the Act determining the amount of
compensation are related to the sum payable in res- pect of the entirety of the estate, for ss. 24 and 25 enact: "24. The compensation payable in respect of an estate shall be determined in accordance with the
following provisions." "25. The compensation shall be determined for r961 the estate as a whole, and not separately for each of 5 . ivarama as ry the mterests therem." v. The mode of computation of the compensation amount
State of for which provision is made in ss. 27 to 30 all proceed Andh•a p,adesh on the basis that it is the entire estate that is taken II Ayyangar J. over and not a portion merely of the estate. A these,
taken together, would point to the scheme of the Act oontem plating the entire estate being taken over. On that scheme he urged that it would not be possible to work out the compensation payable for separate por-
tions of an estate, for instance for one village out of the several which might be comprised in an estate. The claims by the proprietor against the Government for compensation, as well as the determination of dis-
putes inter se between claimants to the compensation amount, he pointed out, all proceed on the basis that the entire estate as a unit was taken over by notifica- tion under s. 1(4).
On these premises Mr. Viswanatha Sastri submitted that what the Government had done in the present case wa8 to deal with the two estates of Gangole 'A' and Gangole 'C' each of which was a unit, as if each
onn of them were really two estates-one that which lay in the Agency tract, and the other outside that area-and had issued notifications in res peat of these units piece-meal which was not contemplated and
therefore not permitted under the Abolition Act. He further pointed out that if the original notification dated August 15, 1950, stood without the "denntifioa- tion" effected by the notification dated September 5,
1950, there might be a valid vest.ing by reason of the retrospective operation of Hegulation IV of 1951. Similarly if the impugned notification of 1953, had included not merely that portion of the estate of
Gangole 'A' and Gangole 'C' which were within the Scheduled areas but the entirety of the two estates, that notification would not have been open to chal- lenge. But the point urged was that it was only by
the combined operation of (1) the notification dated August 15, 1950, as modified by that dated September 5, 1950, and (2) the notification dated January 14, [1962) r96r 1953, that the entirety of the two "estates" was taken
over and that this rendered the second notification Sivarama Saslry v. invalid because it had taken over only a portion of stat• of the estate. Learned Counsel, no doubt, conceded that
Andhra Pradesh the taking over of those portions of Gangole 'A' and Gangole 'C' which were within the operation of the Ayyangar .f, Abolition Act before its extension to the Scheduled
areas not having been challenged, he would not be entitled to any relief in respect of the portion of the estate covered by the first notification, but his argu- ment was that that would not preclude him from dis-
puting the validity of the last notification vesting those portions of the two estates which were within the Scheduled areas in the State. We shall now proceed to consider the tenability of
these submissions. We might premise the discussion by observing that learned Counsel is right in his sub- mission that the Abolition Act does not contemplate or make provision for the taking over of particular
portions only of estates and that if the State Govern- ment having power to take over the entirety of an estate chose, however, to exclude certain portions of it from the operation of a vesting notification and
took over only defined portions of an estate, this could be open to serious challenge on the ground that it was not contemplated by the scheme of the enact- ment. But the acceptance of this principle does not,
in our opinion, compel us to answer the question pro- pounded by the learned Counsel for the appellants in his favour. To start with, it might be pointed out that it looks somewhat anomalous that learned Counsel who
strongly urges that the scheme of the Aot contem- plates the ta.king over only of the entirety of an estate and not of a portion thereof, should resist a taking over which, if effective, would result in the
entire estate vesting in the Government and the compensation being determined according to the rules laid down by the Act, whereas it is the invalida- tion of the impugned notification that would result
in a partial or piece-meal taking over, to the dis- advantage of the proprietors to which learned Coun- sel very properly drew our attention. 2 S.C.R. SUPREME COL1!·°!' REPORTS As already pointed out learned Counsel's submission
'96' was that not merely the notification dated January 5 . d A ivarama as ry 14, 1953, but also the earlier one date ugust v. 1950 (as modified by the one dated September 5, 1950)
State of was invalid as providing for vesting of parts only of Andhra Pradesh an "estate" and not of it as a unit. It would also follow that if the first notification dated· August 15,
Ayyangar J. 1950, was valid, the impugned notification which by its operation effected the vesting of the entirety of the estate in the State could not be open to challenge as violating the princi pie invoked by learned Counsel.
We are necessarily therefore driven to consider the validity of the first notification dated August 15, 1950, in dealing with the validity of the impugned notifica- tion of January 14, 1953. In considering this matter
it is necessary to recall some of the provisions of the Abolition Act. Section 2(3) defines "an estate" as meaning, inter alia, a "zamindari estate". No doubt, as stated already, where the Abolition Act operates
over the whole of "a zamindari estate", it does not contemplate the Government taking over a portion only of such "estate". But in saying this it should not be assumed that if in respect of a single estate two
notifications were issued, say on the same date which together vested the entirety of the "estate" in the State under s. 3, either notification or both together would be invalid or ineffective. The reason for this
must obviously be that the intention of the Govern- ment was to take over the entire estate-though it was being given effect to by the issue of two notifica- tions. That would not obviously be the same thing
as the Government having the liberty to pick and choose certain of the villages or certain portions of an estate leaving out others. If the Abolition Act as enacted does not extend to the entirety of an "estate"
as defined in the Estates Land Act but only to a por- tion thereof, the question would be whether that por- tion of "the estate" which is within the operation of the Act is "an estate" within the meaning of the Act
or not. On this matter there are two views possible: (1) that having regard to the Abolition Act referring to and as it were incorporating the provisions of the [1962] '9 6' Madras Estates Land Act, the "estates" to which the
Abolition Act could a.pply are only those which being Sivarania Sastry v. "Estates" within the Estates Land Act, are also state of wholly within the operation of the Abolition Act. In
Andhra Pradesh other words, even if a few acres of an "estate" as de- fined in the Estates Land Act were outside the opera- Ayyangar J. tion of the Abolition Aet, it would not be an "estate"
which could be taken over. (2) The other view attri- bnting a crucial value to the policy and purpose underlying the legislation, viz., a reform of land tenures and landholding by the elimination of inter-
mediaries to treat any land held on the tenures speci- fied and within the territorial operation of the Act as falling within the category of "estates" liable to be taken over and vested in Government. We consider
that the latter view is to be preferred as being in accord with the intention of the law and as subserving its purposes. In this connection it cannot be over- looked that the entire argument of learned Counsel is
built up on the definitions of an "estate" in s. 2 of the Abolition Act (read with s. 1(3) of that Act), and that the definitions contained there could be applied on the terms of the opening words of that section only
"unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context." The position could possibly be better explained in these terms: Assume that Regulation IV of 1951 was not enacted. Could the State Govern-
ment take over that portion of the "estate" which was within the operation of the Abolition Act or does the definition of "an estate" and the reference s. 1(3) to s. 3(2) of the Madras Estates Land Act of 1908 pre-
clude the State from taking over that portion because the Act does not extend to the entirety of the "estate"? It appears to us that this question is capa- ble of being answered only in one way, viz., that the
definition of "an estate" in the Abolition Act must be limited to that portion of an "estate" which is within the operation of the Act. Any other construction would mean that if that Act did not apply to a few
square yards in an estate, it ceases to be an "estate" governed by the Act, which, in our opinion, would be plainly contrary to the intention of the enactment as 2 S.C.R. SUPliEME COURT REPORTS
gathered from its preamble and operative provisions. r96z Let us suppose that instead of the problem created by a portion of the estate being in a Scheduled area and Sfrarn>:~ Sastry therefore though within the State outside the normal
state of legislative power of the State Legislature, a perma- Andlua Prndesh nently settled est.atn had by reason of say the State's Reorganisation, fell both within the territory of the
Ayyangar J. Madras and the Andhra States, with the result that the taking over under the Abolition Act could be operative only in regard to that portion within the State of Madras. Could it then be contended that the
portion of the estate within the State of Madras did not fall within the definition of an estate and so could not be taken over by notification under s. 1(4) of the Act. Indeed, the answer of the learned Counsel for
the appellants to such a question was that it could be taken over but for the reason that in such a case the portions outside the State territory could not be an "estate" within the Madras Estates Land Act at all
and.that in consequence the inter-relation between the unit constituting the estate under the Estates Land Act and the concept of an "estate" under the Abolition Act was not disrupted. But this, however, hardly
suffices as a complete answer, for even after a portion of the "estate" becoming situated in a State other than Madras the State might still be governed by the "Madras Estates Land Act'', though applied as the
law of the new State. What is relevant in the illus- tration is that along with the concept of the unit con- stituting the "estate" being taken over, there is also underlying it, another principle, viz., that it is sufficient if the entirety of the estate over which the State
Legislature has competence is taken over. In such a taking over the difficulty suggested by learned Counsel in working out the scheme of the Act, would not arise because the portion taken over will constitute the
estate and the compensation for that unit will be worked out on the basis laid down in s. 24 and those following. The other portions of the estate which are !leyond the territorial operation of the enactment
would continue to remain unaffected, so that the State [1962] Government could not be in a position to take Sivara-;;:;; Saslry them over. v. We accordingly consider that the first notification
State of dated August 15, 1950, apart from its being binding Andhra Pradesh and not open to challenge in these proceedings by Ayyanga• J. the appellants, is valid and effective in law to vest
the portion to which it related in the State Govern- ment. We then have Regulation IV of 1951 which brought the other portion of the estate to which the Abolition Act did not originally extend within the
operation of that enactment. If, after this change in the law, the Government did not take over the rest of the est.ate, it would be open to the objection that the State Government had artificially split up the estate
into two parts and had taken over or rather retained in its possession one part, and that notwithstanding that the Act posited the unit constituting an estate being taken over, had departed from that principle.
The impugned notification therefore far from being invalid, was necessary to be issued in order to satisfy the very principle which learned Counsel for the appellants submits-as the one underlying the scheme
of the Abolition Act. We therefore hold that the challenge to the validity of the impugned notification dated January 14, 1953, should be repelled. We have thus reached the same conclusion as the learned Judges of the High Court,
though by a different line of reasoning. The appeals fail and are dismissed with costs- one set. Appeals dismissed.