JUDGMENT

NATARAJAN, J. :— Leave granted in all the special leave petitions.

2. These appeals arise out of a common order passed by the High Court of Punjab and Haryana in a batch of writ petitions filed by the respondents in the appeals before us.

3. The 1st appellant Haryana Urban Development Authority (referred to as HUDA) was put in possession of land near the border of Haryana State and Delhi comprised in several sectors including Sectors 22, 23 & 23-A (Phase- 11) in District Gurgaon, Haryana State by the State Government of Haryana for augmenting the resources of the State by developing the land and parcelling out sites and selling them at commercial rates and giving the sale proceeds to the Government less the charges incurred for development works. In accordance with the scheme, HUDA developed the land and parcelled out plots for allotment for housing purposes and advertised for sale of plots. As there were numerous applicants for the plots, the selection of allottees was done by draw of lots. The respondents in these appeals were among the successful drawees in the lots so drawn but it so happened that 306 drawees including the respondents could not be given the plots drawn i