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"14. No person other than a person who was at the date of sale a member of an agricultural tribe in the same group of agricultural tribes as the vendor shall have a right of pre- emption in respect of agricultural land sold by a member of an agricultural tribe."

The expression "agricultural tribe" referred to in s. 14- is defined in s. 3(4) of the Act thus: "member of an agricultural tribe and group of agricultural tribes shall have the meanings assigned to them respectively under the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900.

"No decree shall be granted in a suit for pre- emption in respect of the sale of agricultural land until the plaintiff has satisfied the Court-
(a) that the sale in respect of which pre-

emption is claimed is riot in contravention of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900: and

(b) that he is not debarred by tile provisions of section 14 of this Act from exercising the right of preemption."

Now, by the Adaptation of Laws (Third Amendment) Order, 1951, the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900, has been repealed and the argument urged by the learned Counsel for the appellant was that by reason of the repeal of that Act the right of preemption granted by s. 15(a) has become unavailable. The argument was somewhat on these lines. It is under s. 6 that the right of preemption is recognised and granted, though s. 15 sets out the circumstances in which it arises. Under s. 6 the right is (a) in respect of "agricultural land ", and (b) the right conferred by the Act is subject to every provision and limitation contained in it. In the Act, as originally framed before the amendment effected by the Adaptation of Laws (Third Amendment) Order, 1951 i. e., before the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900, there were two principal limitations on the right of preemption in respect of "agricultural land:" (1) it applied only to such land as was defined in the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, and (2) by virtue of s. 14 there was a limitation of the group of persons who might claim the right of preemption if a sale took place by "a member of an agricultural tribe", and the expression "member of an agricultural tribe" was as defined by the Punjab Alienation of Land Act. Section 15 therefore was subject to the limitations of s. 14 and to the definition of 'agricultural land' and 'agricultural tribe' and this read in conjunction with the positive provision in s.23 has become wholly inapplicable and unworkable after the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act of 1900. The problem here raised is dependent upon the construction which the several provisions which we have set out earlier would bear after the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900. One thing is clear and that is that the authority which effected the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act did not consider that Punjab Act 1 of 1913 had itself to be repealed. We shall now consider the effect of the repeal of the Punjab Alienation of Land Act with reference to each of the provisions:-