Judgment

UNTWALIA, J.:- These five Civil appeals and the two Criminal appeals have been heard together and are being disposed of by a common judgment as the points involved in them are identical.

2. The various respondents in these appeals were being prosecuted by the Delhi Development Authority - hereinafter called the Authority - constituted under the Delhi Development Act, 1957 -hereinafter referred to as Development Act, u/s 29 (2) of the said Act. Large number of such prosecutions were started against various persons owning land and buildings in the different areas of Delhi for the alleged violation of Section 14 of the Development Act Some of the persons prosecuted challenged the legality of the prosecution by filling Writ Petitions and some by filing Criminal Petitions for the quashing of the conviction or the prosecution One Writ Petition being Writ Petn.. No. 728 of 1970 was disposed of by a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court consisting of Hardy and Deshpande, JJ. by their judgment reported in the case of N. K. Vasuraj v. Delhi Development Authority. ILR (1971) 2 Delhi 21. The view take in that case was:

It is contended that no prosecution could be filed before the zonal