CORPORATION OF CALCUTTA vs CALCUTTA TRAMWAYS CO. LTD.

The Supreme Court held that the clause in Section 437(1)(b) of the Calcutta Municipal Act, 1951, which renders the Corporation's opinion conclusive and non-justiciable, constitutes an unreasonable restriction on the fundamental right to trade under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. The Court ruled that this clause must be struck down as it places undue power in the hands of the Corporation, making trade subject to arbitrary decisions. The Court distinguished this case from Joseph Kuruvilla Vellukunnel v. Reserve Bank of India, asserting that the latter's ruling is not applicable here, and determined that the offending clause is severable from the rest of the section, allowing the remainder to stand.