Per S.N. VARIAVA, J.:---All these petitions can be disposed off by this common judgment. Facts are by and large common. On behalf of the petitioners, Mr. Zaiwalla and Mr. Chinoy have argued. All the other Advocates have adopted the arguments of these two Counsel.

2.All these petitions challenge the vires of the Goa, Daman and Diu Mining Concessions (Abolition and Declaration as Mining Leases) Act, 1987 (hereinafter for the sake of convenience called the said Impugned Act). Facts briefly stated are as follows:

3.The then Portuguese Government granted various concessions under Decrees dt. 20th September 1906. These were governed by the Portuguese Colonial Mining Laws. The then existing position is very succinctly set out by the Supreme Court in the case of (Vinodkumar Shantilal Gosalia v. Gangadhar Narsingdas Agarwal)1, reported A.I.R. 1981 S.C. 1946. The relevant portion reads as follows:

"3. During the Portuguese rule, matters relating to grant, transfer and vesting of mining rights in Goa, Daman and Diu were governed by the 'Portuguese Colonial Mining Laws'. Under those laws a person could, in stated circumstances, make a 'declaration' in writing stating that 'he has discovered a m

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