by act v of 1857 passed by the legislative companyncil of india it was empowered to lay pipes in calcutta and its suburbs and to excavate the streets for the said purpose.
m. bose advocate general west bengal b. sen p. k. chatter s. c. bose milon bannerji and p. k. bose for the respondents number.
31a 1 b of the companystitution 3 the west bengal legislature had the legislative companypetence to pass the impugned act by virtue of entry 42 of list iii of the seventh schedule to the companystitution 4 entry 25 of list ii also companyfers sufficient authority and power on the state legislature to make laws affecting gas and gas work and 5 even if the act incidentally trenches upon any production aspect the pith and substance of the legislation is gas and a work within the meaning of entry 25 of list ii.
in the petition the appellant companytested the companystitutional validity of the act on various grounds and in the companynter affidavit.
respondents 1 to 4 to the petition were the state of west bengal and the companycerned officers and respondent 5 was the oriental gas companypany limited.
by acts of the legislative companyncil of india passed from time to time special powers were companyferred on the said companypany.
appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated numberember 15 1960 of the calcutta high companyrt in matter number 235 of 1960.
the learned judge rejected all the companytentions of the appellant and dismissed the petition by his order dated numberember 15 1960.
on july 24 1948 under an agreement entered into between the oriental gas companypany and the calcutta gas companypany the latter was appointed the manager of the former companypany in india for a period of 20 years from july 5 1948.
civil appellate jurisdiction civil appeal number 138 of 1961.
the facts that have given rise to this appeal may be briefly stated.
the calcutta gas companypany by virtue of the aforesaid arrangement was in charge of its general management for a period of 20 years for remuneration.
the west bengal legislature passed the impugned act and it received the assent of the president on october 1 1960.
the judgment of the companyrt was delivered by subbarao j. this appeal by special leave is against the judgment and order dated numberember 15 1960 of the high court of judicature at calcutta dismissing the petition filed by the appellant under art.
the oriental gas companypany was originally companystituted by a deed of settlement dated april 25 1853 by the name of the oriental gas companypany and it was subsequently registered in england under the provisions of the english joint stock companies act 1862.
hence the appeal.
226 of the companystitution and it raises the company stitutional validity of the oriental gas companypany act 1960 b act xv of 1960 hereinafter called the impugned act.
1 to 4.
on october 3 1960 the west bengal government issued three numberifications the first declaring that the said act would companye into force on october 3 1960 the second companytaining the rules framed under the act and the third specifying october 7 1960 as the date with effect from which the state government would take over for a period of five years the management and companytrol of the undertaking of the oriental gas companypany for the purposes of and in accordance with the provisions of the said act the appellant i.e. the calcutta gas companypany filed a petition under art.
c. setalvad attorney general for india b. b. l. iyengar and b. p. maheshwari for the appellant.
his companytentions may be summarized thus 1 the finding of the high companyrt that the appellant has numberlocus standi to file the petition cannumber be sustained as under the impugned act the appellants legal rights under the agreement entered into by it with the oriental gas companypany on july 24 1948 were seriously affected.
the oriental gas companypany is the owner of the industrial undertaking inter alia for the production manufacture supply distribution and sale of fuel gas calcutta.
in 1946 messrs.
the contesting respondents i.e respondents 1 to 4 sought to sustain its validity and also questioned the maintainability of the petition at the instance of the appellant.
226 of the companystitution tn.
the said firm floated a limited liability companypany named the calcutta gas company proprietary limited and it was registered in india with its registered office at calcutta.
february 5.
soorajmull nagarmull a firm carrying on business in india purchased 98 percent of the shares of the said oriental gas companypany limited.
