B.N. SRIKRISHNA, J.:---This writ petition under Article 226 read with Articles 14 and 48-A of the Constitution of India is a Public Interest Litigation by the petitioners who are tax payers and rate payers residing in Bandra area and claim to be deeply interested in environmental protection and planned and orderly development of the city of Mumbai. The first petitioner is the President of the Bombay Civic Trust and the second petitioner is the President of the Save Bombay Committee. First petitioner was for a number of years Municipal Councillor and a Member of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and later of the Council. He is also an ex-Minister of the Government of Maharashtra. Second petitioner was an active member of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay for a number of years and is active in the field of environment protection. The third petitioner was a Professor of Bombay University who takes keen interest in environment protection. The fourth petitioner was Director and Labour Advisory in Siemens. The fifth petitioner is a businessman and a founder member of Mumbai Grahak Panchayat. The sixth petitioner is an executive in an International Bank in Bombay and the seventh petitioner was a Senior Manager of the State Bank of India and later consultant to the World Bank. The first respondent is the State of Maharashtra; the second respondent is the Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay and the third respondent is the Commissioner thereof. The fourth respondent is the Union of India. The fifth respondent is the appropriate authority under section 269-UA of the Income Tax Act, 1961. The sixth respondent is the original owner of plot bearing R.S. Nos. 416 and 417 (Part) situated at Byramji Jijeebhoy Road, Bandra (West), which land is the subject matter of this writ petition. The seventh respondent is a Builder and the transferee of the land described hereinabove. The eighth respondent was the Minister of Revenue in the Government of Maharashtra at the relevant time. The ninth respondent is Enjay Hotels Private Limited and the tenth respondent is Devdut Co-operative Housing Society Limited, both being subsequently added as party respondents in the writ petition.

2. The petitioners claim to be deeply interested in environmental issue and have jointly moved this writ petition to invoke the constitutional powers of this Court to obtain directions against the respondents for what the petitioners feel is unconstitutional, illegal and unjustified depredation of environmental resources in the Bandra Lands End area.

3. The petition had an extremely chequered history and it is necessary to recount the facts leading to the writ petition in some detail so as to appreciate the plethora of complicated legal issues thrown up for consideration of this Court.

FACTS

4. Land's End Bandra is a peninsular piece of land which juts into the sea, being covered on the East, North and West by the Sea. It comprises a hill known as Mount Marry hill which houses the well known Mount Marry Church. The hill slopes towards the Mahim Bay on the Eastern side and the Arabian sea on the Western side. The area around the slopes has developed into a posh residential locality which is used to house spacious bungalows owned by the elite of Bombay. In course of time, the bungalows have given way to multi-storied buildings. As the tip of this peninsular piece of land are situated the ruins of an ancient Portuguese fort known as Bandra fort, which fort has been declared as a protected monument under section 4(3) of the Maharashtra Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Act, 1960 (Mah. XII of 1961). There has been considerable development on this peninsular piece of land and a developed road runs North-South almost to the tip of the peninsular area. Towards the West seaward of this road, there exists a five star hotel, ""Sea Rock"", whose construction had been permitted much before the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification under the Environment (Protection)