JUDGMENT :

Deepak Gupta, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. The legal issue involved in these appeals is whether the Patna High Court was right in holding that when the allottee of land, allotted for industrial purposes, further transferred the land to some other entity, the Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) was only entitled to recover the unearned increase on the basis of cost of land and development charges and not on the basis of the market value of the land or the circle rate of the land.

3. In view of the decision that we intend to take in these four cases before us, it is not necessary to give the facts of each case in detail. However, for the purposes of decision of these set of appeals, we may refer to the facts in C.A. No.8222/2019 (arising out of SLP(C) No.5251/2017). Clause 4(i) of the Lease Deed entered into between the State of Bihar and M/s. Orient Beverages Ltd. to which the land was granted on lease for a period of 99 years for a sum of Rs.42,000/- plus rent of Rs.87.50 per year, reads as follows:

"Clause 4(i):-

That the lessee will not assign, mortgage, underlet or part with the possession over the land or any right or interest therein or in respect thereto witho