( 1 ) SINCE the facts and issues raised are overlapping and in extricably interwoven, therefore we have found advisable to dispose of both the LA. filed in the contempt proceedings as well as the writ petitions by a common judgment.

( 2 ) THE petitioner claims to be a registered society consisting of the purported allottees under "ashraya Scheme" of house sites in Survey No. 14 of Ganakal Village of Kengeri Hobli, Bangalore South Taluk. The petitioner-society had earlier filed Writ Petition No. 253430 of 1996 in the public interest domain for direction to the respondents-State of Karnataka and its police wing to register criminal case against Sri Nagaraj @ Shivpuri Swamy (respondent 5) as per their complaint dated 26-4-1996 (Annexure-J) for encroaching public lands and also to protect the members of the society against dispossession of sites claimed to have been validly allotted to, them. In the above writ petition, the State Government took the stand that since it had come to their knowledge that there had been widespread illegalities committed in distributing sites under the "ashraya Scheme", therefore, the matter was referred to the corps of Detectives (for sho