S. M. DAUD, J.

( 1 ) THIS petition under Article 226 of the constitution takes exception to documents marked Exs. R and S and the alleged deprivation of petitioner from a right to occupy flat No. G, third floor of what was formerly known as Fazalbhoy House and is now known as Kakad House.

( 2 ) THE building afore-mentioned consisting of five floors formerly belonged to the Trust Settlement of Bai Sherbanoo wife of Mr. Abdulla Fazalbhoy. That Trust is presently represented by respondents 4 to 6. The Trust owned the building till the year 1981 when the said building was conveyed to respondent No. 7.

( 3 ) AFTER outbreak of the second world war the then Government enacted for amongst other things the better and more efficient prosecution of the war legislation in the shape of the Defence of India Act, 1939. Rules were framed (under this Act to enable requisitioning of property) and one such rule was that bearing 75-A. The said Rule reads as under:- (1) If in the opinion of the Central government or the Provincial Government it is necessary or expedient so to do for securing the defence of British India, Public safety, the maintenance of public order or the efficient prosecution of the war, of for maintaining supplies and services essentials to the life of the community, that Government may by order in writing requisition any property, moveable or immoveable, and may make such further orders as appear to that Government to be necessary or expedient in connection with the requisitioning. . . (5) The Central Government or the Provincial Government may, with a view to requisition any property under sub-rule (1) or determining the compensation payable under sub-rule (4) by order. (a ). . . . . (b) direct that the owner occupier or person in possession of the property shall not without the permission of Government dispose of it. . . till the expiry of such period as may be specified, it the order. " acting on the basis of the power conferred by the above rule, the Commissioner of Police, Bombay issued an order on 25th of June, 1942. The said order is at Ex. A and the relevant portion therefrom reads as follows:

". . . . I Commissioner of Police, Bombay, do hereby requisition the said property and direct that possession of the said property be delivered to the Superintendent of Police. . . on the 1st day of August, 1942 subject to the following conditions:- (1) The Property shall be continued in requisitioned during the period of the present war and six months thereafter or for such shorter period as may be specified by me. (2) The Property shall be restored to the owner as far as possible in the same condition in which it was on the date on which the Superintendent of Police, A Division, was put in possession of it. (3) Such rent as is paid by the present occupants of the above property shall be paid to the owner of the property as compensation. "the requisitioning order pertained to eight flats of Fazalbhoy House, four on the second floor and the remaining on the third floor-the latter set including the petition flat G. Petitioner was one of the occupants of the requisitioned flats and in common with those facing the same predicament as him, on 2nd July, 1942 addressed a letter to the Trust. This is to be found in the files of the commissioner of Police who is the first respondent to this petition. The letter speaks of a notice received from the Trust demanding vacant possession of the flats pursuant to the requisition order, the difficulties this unexpected event had caused and the hardship encountered by people requiring suitable accommodation in getting the same during the monsoon months. The letter ends with a request that the Trust grant them at least three months time to vacate. The Trust on August 1, 1942 addressed a letter to the commissioner of Police intimating that the tenants had been noticed vis-a-vis the order of requisition and that they had vacated the flats in their occupation. The tenants having gone out the r