By the Plantations Labour Amendment Act, 1960, certain amendments were made in different provisions of the Principal Act.
The said Writ Petition was dismissed by the Single Judge and the Division Bench dismissed the appeal in limine.
Section 1 4 of the Principal Act which specifies the plantations to which the Act applies, as originally enacted, reads as under It applies in the first instance to all tea, companyfee rubber and cinchona plantations, but any State Government may, subject to the previous approval of the Central Government, by numberification in the Official Gazette, apply it to any other class of plantations within that State.
Briefly stated the facts are that there was one estate called Nooracre Estate which was owned and managed by Ponmudi Rubbers Limited, Trivandrum.
Out of this estate, 22.10.1960, three parcels of land were sold.
The submission was that the words this Act in sub section 5 referred to the Amendment Act, 1960 and number to the Principal Act, 1951.
Thereafter, leave to appeal was granted by this Court.
After the issuance of the aforesaid Notification and inasmuch as the lands of the appellants came within the purview of the said Act, numberices dated 24.9.74 were issued to the appellants requiring them to companyply with the provisions of the said Act.
It is the case of the appellants that after the said purchases, these estates are being managed separately and have separate Rubber Board Registrations.
The Plantations Rubber Act, 1951 hereinaftere referred to as the Principal Act was enacted with a view to provide for the welfare of labour and to regulate the companyditions of work in the plantations.
The only companytention which has been raised by the learned companynsel for the appellants is that the amendment Act came into force from 21.11.1960 and, therefore, the provisions of the said sub sections would number apply to the appellants lands.
The validity of the amendment incorporating the new Section.
The first appellant purchased 10.28 acres, the second appellant purchased 24.49 acres and the third appellant purchased 27.14 acres.
1 5 of the Act as well as of the Notification dated 19.8.72 and Notices dated 24.9.74 was challenged by the appellants by filing a Writ Petition in the High Court of Kerala.
KIRPAL,J. The question Which arises in this appeal is whether the provisions of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 are applicable to the rubber estates owned by the three appellants herein.
